Doors in the Dream
by Eryessa
Summary: Phoebe Durwin's dream was to own her own bar. Joe Anoa'i had a dream to be everything to his wife and daughter. When Joe meets Phoebe, he doesn't realize how special this woman would be in the long run. Will their doors open for each other, or will they shut and never open again? Roman/OC with Dean/OC and Seth/OC later on.
1. Chapter 1

She hoped her hair wouldn't cause her this job because she really needed it.

Phoebe Durwin had to compose herself as she walked along Pensacola Drive, one of the main streets in Downtown Pensacola, Florida. She had the address of Island Boi BBQ in her hand as she scanned the surrounding buildings to see if one of them had the matching address on it. She wore her nice slacks and the nice blouse, unsure of how the place worked. But Phoebe knew that there was a dress code when it came to a job interview. But this job would have other ideas for her.

"Where is it?" She wondered out loud feeling her ponytail whip around with her head.

Being in a braid and resting just against her backside, Phoebe knew her hair brought onlookers, like the young couple she passed as she was looking for Island Boi. She caught them staring at her because of the large window she was standing in front of. Phoebe didn't pay them any mind because that was when she realized that she was standing in front of Island Boi BBQ.

"Okay, here goes everything." Phoebe mumbled as she opened the door.

The inside of Island Boi was like any other restaurant that she had seen. Booths and tables, with an island theme to everything. It was not a professional place, not in the least. She looked at the waitresses that were tending to the customers and saw the jean shorts, those Daisy Dukes cut off shorts and bikini tops. With her resume in hand, Phoebe looked around, hoping to see the man that she was looking for.

In the far back of the building was a door that said lounge. Was this a bar or a restaurant? She didn't see a sign outside that said this place had a bar/lounge.

"This isn't a professional place." She mumbled waiting for someone to wait on her.

There was a sign that said please wait to be seated, but with hardly any customers she didn't see a damn waitress or waiter anywhere. But there was a cashier.

"Excuse me," Phoebe said walking up to the dark haired woman who was texting on the job. The woman held up a finger before she continued to text whoever it was.

There was a large man walking through. He wore knee length jean shorts, a baseball cap and longish black curly hair hanging to the nape of his neck. His body was huge, in fat not in muscle, but of course that was a Samoan thing but it was a cultural thing Phoebe wasn't used to. To her, maybe he looked black in some ways, like the woman behind the cash register. Even this man seemed oblivious to the long haired woman standing mere feet from him.

"Danica, has anyone come for the bartender interview?" The man asked.

"Besides the ones you've already seen, no." The woman responded not looking up from her phone.

"Actually I am here for an interview." Phoebe spoke up, making the man look at her. The woman did, too, but she rolled her eyes.

Ignoring the fact that the dark skinned woman was giving her a dirty look, Phoebe focused on the man that seemed to be the owner of the place.

At only five foot five inches tall, Phoebe stood just under his chin. She could see his brown eyes, which made her smile politely, as her old job coach from school instructed her. Phoebe held her right hand out and introduced herself. "I'm Phoebe Durwin. I'm here for that bartending and server job you're offering." She said.

"I'm Matt Anoa'i, it's a pleasure to meet you. You just made it."

She wasn't going to say she got lost because the place didn't stand out. The rest of the neighborhood was like a tourist trap, this place looked run down and dingy, and that was the good part. Besides the fact that this place was the closest to the shelter she was staying at, Phoebe decided she was going to make the best of it while she had a chance at succeeding here.

"Is there anything you wanted to ask before we begin?" Matt asked her.

"Um, yeah, I guess. I didn't see a sign for a bar or lounge in here from the outside." Phoebe said as she followed the man towards the back of the property.

"Well, I hadn't intended on running a bar, but this building used to be a restaurant and lounge before I bought it. The bar was a second thought because I mainly focus on the restaurant. How many years have you been bartending?"

"I just finished college up in New York for bartending. I'm a mixologist so I'm familiar with tropical themed mixes." She answered as Matt opened up a door that went to the office in the back of the building.

"That's good." He said looking at her. "Do you have a resume?"

"Yes, it's right here, sir." She handing it to him.

There were five other girls standing outside of the office door, possibly waiting. There was only one other white girl there, the rest were differing shades of skin color from caramel to mahogany. It appeared that the strawberry blond and Phoebe herself were the odd ones out in this job interview. The others looked like they had been to the beach. It had only been a month since moving to Pensacola and Phoebe had not the opportunity to even see the beach for the first time.

She had other things to worry about, like living on the streets.

"You're from New York?" Matt asked.

"Yes, but I was born in Nebraska. My family moved to New York when I was young." She said as he motioned for her to enter the room. "And I am of legal age to be a bartender, at twenty-one."

The interview continued after Matt indicated to the seat. "I am a first time restaurant owner, there is a dress code here for a more exotic feel. It's a beach theme, I'm sure you've noticed that. That's why the women out in the hall were dressed the way they were."

"I'm not comfortable with the tops, the shorts I can deal with but if you don't mind me wearing tank tops I don't think you'll have an issue with me." She nodded, tossing her braid back over her shoulder.

"That can be arranged. But what do you plan on doing here?"

"If I start out as a bartender and a server, that's great. But I want to work my way up to bar manager, I may be quiet now but I feel like I can flourish in this business once I have found my voice." She answered truthfully. "It's not just about the money, sir. It's about succeeding as a person. Maybe one day I will own my own bar and I think this would be a perfect first step."

"You are aware of the reputation I have, right?"

Her brows furrowed. "I don't think I understand, Mr. Anoa'i."

"I will let you know that the restaurant is a family setting. I come from a big Samoan family. And a lot of us are professional wrestlers."

She shrugged. "No I didn't know that, sir."

"So you have never heard of Dwayne the Rock Johnson? Or Roman Reigns?"

Phoebe shrugged again. "I don't think I know who you're talking about."

Matt tilted his head, his left eyebrow raised while the other one lay normally on his head. That was a feat Phoebe knew she would never manage. "You really don't know who they are." The raised eyebrow came back down again. "They come in here near regularly."

"Okay. I don't know who you're talking about. That's because I don't watch wrestling. I've had other things going on in my life to worry about than some television wrestling thing, to be honest with you."

"You really don't care, do you?"

She shook her head. "I cam here to get a job, not get involved in wrestling. While I appreciate you telling me that you are related to some of the wrestlers, I didn't know about that before hand."

"I see," he leaned back in his chair with her large arms crossed.

"Can I prove to you that I can be a bartender and not get overwhelmed with celebrities coming in?"

"That's exactly what I had planned for today. Let me hold on to your resume and I will get the test underway." Matt stood up, which caused Phoebe to as well.

* * *

Joe Anoa'i was still pissed off at his wife Rochelle, but that was expected after getting off the road.

"Come on, drinking will do you some good." Jon Good, known as Dean Ambrose, said as they walked into the lounge part of Island Boi.

Colby Lopez, known as Seth Rollins in the WWE, was right behind his off screen friend. "Drinking doesn't solve everything."

"I know, but it will dull the senses." Jon replied.

Roman Reigns was a hard rock, a tough Superman in the WWE. But Joe Anoa'i was still a married man with a daughter to worry about when he wasn't on the road. It wasn't often that Joe would get rip roaring drunk because his priorities were always as a father to his daughter Malia. Yet as of late he was having issues with being married to his high school sweetheart Rochelle.

Matt was standing near the bar and there was a line of six girls standing to the side as he was talking to them. Most of them wore the customary short cut off jean shorts and red bikini tops. Except one. She was blond, at least corn yellow blond and she stood at the end of the line with her ass long hair back in a braided ponytail. But she was the only one not wearing the Island Boi clothing, she looked more professional than anyone else there.

That just made her stand out even more.

"Uce," Joe called out to his older brother.

The bar was empty, thank goodness. The bar manager Kathy Irving was sitting down at a booth with no intention of helping Matt. Like her sister Danica, Kathy liked being on her phone more than she did dealing with anything work related. Though Rochelle enjoyed her social media, she didn't share Danica or Kathy's constant enthusiasm for it.

"Mooch," Colby mumbled when seeing her also.

Jon headed straight for the bar, hopping up on a stool and dropping his sunglasses there. Colby followed his friend's lead and sat more towards the far end of the bar while Joe went to his brother.

"Hey, Joe, thank you for coming here."

"No problem." Joe hugged his larger brother. "It seems like you're holding try outs. I thought there was only one position open."

"Well, I was double thinking that at the moment. We really need a few more bartenders back here, especially if another SmackDown or Raw shows up here."

Joe pushed his long hair from his face as he looked at the applicants. "Did you give them the menu to look over?" Then he unconsciously pulled at the dark blue polo shirt he was wearing with his left hand, making his wedding band shine in the low light.

"Yeah, I did." Matt laughed. "I have it under control here."

Yeah, right, Joe thought as his gray eyes skimmed over the women, landing on the black slacked woman with the long braided blond hair again. She was the most unique out of all of them. Well besides the fact that the Strawberry blond was fiddling uncontrollably, like she was nervous or something.

"Can we smashed yet?" Jon yelled out.

"And I'm not drinking." Colby quickly added on that. "I have to drive their asses home and to the hotel after this."

"What's going to happen is that each of these women are going to approach you like you are customers. You'll tell me what you think about the drinks you are given and you'll write down what you think about their interactions with you. Afterward you will give me your thoughts on it and see where we go from there."

The braided blond leaned her head over to a woman that was whispering to her. Joe couldn't hear what was being said but the strawberry blond was nervous. She was dressed in cut off jeans and a red bikini top, like most of the other women and it only added to the fact that her face took on the same tint as her hair. Maybe the braided blond was telling her to calm down.

"Okay, sounds like a deal."

Joe couldn't wait to get this job interview stuff over with. He just wanted to go home to surprise Malia as she got off the bus from school.

Let the games begin, he thought sitting down at the bar with his friends.

* * *

**Hi everyone. Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter of a new story. I'm starting this Roman Reigns project for this month and I really want to get this thing going so that everyone can read it. I'll have another update in a day or two. **

**So thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

All together there were six women, so there were five other women she had to contend with to get this job. Most of them were busty, all trying to flirt with the three men at the bar. As Phoebe waited for her turn, the girl next to her kept fiddling with her exposed pockets on her shapely thighs. Sure Phoebe was a few inches shorter than her but this Heather Blaise girl was so fidgety.

"I don't know how to make a Blue Hawaiian." She whispered to Phoebe.

"In order it's Vodka, Rum, Curacao, pine apple juice and with sweet and sour." Phoebe said. "I wonder what a bourbon in there instead of rum would taste like." She said seeing the bourban bottle on the back shelf behind the bar.

Of all the training she had, and stuff like mixing, Phoebe considered creating something a little different, for the sake of the bar. This was no New York bar, it looked like an after thought. Not that Matt wasn't trying hard enough, but he obviously didn't really know how to run one and that bar manager was of no help either. Phoebe hadn't even met the bar manager, wasn't a manager the one that did the hiring for the owner? It was obvious that Matt Anoa'i didn't have his focus on the bar, not like the restaurant.

After about twenty minutes, it was Heather's turn at the bar. She walked towards the three men, Dean Ambrose's eyes were on the woman's ass that was walking away. As the two women passed, Phoebe saw the other woman hit Heather's shoulder with hers. The other woman laughed, leaving Heather to rub her shoulder. Phoebe looked at the large breasted woman who now stood next to her.

"That chick has no chance." Justine, that was her name, said looking at Phoebe.

"At least she's trying." Phoebe replied.

The woman laughed. "Not hard enough."

Heather took Dean's and Roman's orders, smiling and having a hard time dealing with Dean's apparent flirting with the bartender.

"So, Sunshine, work here long?" He smiled at her as she mixed Roman's Blue Hawaiian.

"No, I uh, just started actually." She bit her lip as she tried to focus on what she was doing.

A bartender should be able to interact and know how to mix her drinks, Phoebe knew this from practice back in bartender school. It was mandatory for her during that phase to memorize the drinks the bar served and interact with patrons at the same time. But making one drink at a time was inefficient, especially if there was a rush going on.

"This is pretty good." Roman said as he looked at Heather, who had her head lowered yet again. "But still a little too strong."

"She looks pretty good." Dean added, which caused the plastic cup in to fall from Heather's hand. "Do you offer a lap dance?"

Dean was the kind of patron that just loved getting on people's nerves, saying stuff to get an emotional reaction from bartenders, at least that's what Phoebe thought. Heather's emotion was embarrassment as her face took on another shade of strawberry red than her hair. She had what it took, Phoebe could see that, but she didn't have the strength to pull it all together. Not yet at least.

"Okay, Ms. Blaise, that's good. Thanks." Matt said, running his hand over his face. "Ms. Durwin, you're up."

Phoebe grabbed the bourbon, but also grabbed Heather's arm, stopping the other bartender all together. "Here, you're helping me with this one, honey."

She knew she was taking a chance by improving Heather's chances. But she could see it, under that scared exterior, Phoebe saw a woman that just wanted to do something right for once. This was how she was taught anyway.

"Hello, Gentleman. I am Phoebe Durwin, I'll be your bartender tonight. This is Heather Blaise, she's my student and I'm helping her to get better acquainted with the bar scene. So, can I interest you gentlemen in the house special to start off with tonight?" Phoebe asked as she stood in front of the three former Shield members.

Seth Rollins looked at Dean and Roman. Phoebe didn't even know if that was their real names, she only knew them as Seth, Dean and Roman. At least that's what the other girls in the line up said, otherwise to her Phoebe just saw them as potential customers.

"Uh, yeah, I'll just have a Blue Hawaiian." Roman said.

"And for you?" Phoebe looked at Dean.

"Know what, surprise me. At this point in the game, I'm up for anything." He crossed his arms on the bar and smiled at the two women.

"All right. Would you like another water there, sweetie?" Phoebe asked the nondrinker of the group, Seth Rollins.

"No, I'm good." He responded tilting his head slightly.

Nodding Phoebe turned to Heather who still hadn't spoken yet. "Okay, Honey, this is what you're going to do. You already know how to make a Blue Hawaiian, but you should replace the rum with the bourbon, to give it more kick. And I know you have an issue with over pouring, and that is fine when some people like their sour. But try this thing." She held up a small metal thing that looked like a double sided shot glass. "This is a jigger, it will help you measure out the alcohol. So while you're working on that, I'll be working with shots."

"We don't serve shots." Matt spoke up from behind her.

"No, sir, we don't but it's not uncommon for a bartender to get asked a drink that's not on the menu. And Mr. Ambrose here looks like a shot kind of guy." She answered turning around to look for what she was aiming for.

Tossing a shot glass in the air in a sort of juggling act, Phoebe back handed a bottle of Irish creme behind and over her left shoulder before laying the glass on the bar and pouring butterscotch schnapps into the glass first. Then she used the backside of a spoon to pour the Irish Creme to layer on top of the schnapps.

"I think you would do great with shooters, Heather." Phoebe said, looking at the off blue drink she was making. "See, it now matches Mr. Reign's eyes." She smiled as she made another shooter but this one was different.

With two very different shots in front of him, Dean looked at the woman, women because Heather had put up his friend's modified drink.

"How do you like it?" Heather asked Roman.

"It's a Blue Hawaiian with a kick." He said in a strained voice. "Holy hell that thing is good. What is it?"

"I call it The Samoan Drop, because if you drink enough of it you will drop." Phoebe smiled at him. "So, Mr. Ambrose, you going to try what I made you?" She asked pushing the two shock glasses towards him.

He tipped back the first simpler one that she had made and licked the creme off his upper lip. Nodding, Dean went to the more layered one she had set out for him. Taking it all in his mouth and slamming the shot glass on the bar he groaned and breathed through his nose before speaking. His voice, too, was strained.

"Holy shit those were good. What are they?"

"Well you first went after my buttery nipple and you finished it off with my duck fart." Phoebe said with an impassive expression on her face.

Seth began choking on his water, some of it coming out of his nose and spittled down on his beard. Quickly Heather grabbed a few napkins for him so that he wouldn't make a total mess of himself. Then she grabbed a few more to clean up where he did spit on the bar. Dean was laughing that he was rocking back in his bar stool and Roman was covering his face with his hands, but Phoebe could see that he was laughing because his shoulders were moving. With a quick glance over her shoulder, Phoebe saw Matt doing the same as his brother.

Phoebe looked over at Heather who was smiling bigger now. She did catch the other women mouth 'Thank You' to her as she cleared the lower bar.

"Okay, okay, that's enough." Kathy said coming to the bar. "You two need to step down. I think that's all for today. We'll call you if we decided you're good enough."

Kathy waved at Phoebe to leave. Phoebe also saw that she was glaring at Heather, for whatever reason.

Matt calmed down long enough to say, "All right, ladies thank you. We'll call you later, okay. Please, have a nice and safe day."

Tugging on Heather's hand, Phoebe motioned her to leave with her. "Hey, let's go out to eat. I hear there's a great restaurant next door that serves a great shrimp bowl."

Heather smiled at Phoebe and nodded. "Sure, let me buy you lunch though. You helped me a lot here today."

"Everyone deserves a chance at something." Phoebe told the woman.

* * *

Once Joe had calmed down, along with Jon and Colby for that matter, he was able to think.

"Dude, the last chick was awesome." Jon voiced for him.

"She was but she went off the menu to impress you." Kathy said sitting on the stood between Jon and Joe. "She's weird, did you see her hair?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah, so? It was pulled back and out of the way. And she went out of her way to help another bartender. Someone she was competing with to get the position. Did you see the third to the last shove Heather Blaise?"

Kathy waved him off. "Justine knows her way around a bar, Matt. Besides that chick Heather, she's no good at bartending. That Phoebe chick doesn't belong here. Justine I can trust. You can always trust family."

"For me, I still liked that Phoebe girl." Colby said. "She was respectful, entertaining, fast as hell, can make shit up on the fly, she has it in her to work here. I wouldn't mind coming back just to talk to her."

"She flirts, yes, but it's tasteful flirting. Not to mention, her and that Heather girl didn't try to show off their breasts to me." Joe said earning a rolled eye response from Kathy. "And I think the reason why Phoebe gave Jon those funky ass shots is because he was being an ass. And she did it with a smile. All the others, I didn't care for them. Phoebe and Heather are still my favorites. Heather is willing to learn, Phoebe is a natural leader and someone that can be trusted with the bar." Joe said.

Matt ran his hand over his face, thinking about it all. "The most qualified would have to be Phoebe, yes I agree. The one with the most potential is Heather because she obviously wants to learn but has issues with self confidence. And they worked great together. That's what a bar is supposed to be, a great team that works together. Also, I can't help not think about what Phoebe Durwin said when I met her in the restaurant."

"What?" The three former Shield members asked together.

"We're not advertising for a lounge, or a bar. Maybe that's why this place is failing so freaking bad." Matt said.

"I'm the manager, Matt, you hired me to worry about the bar. I really don't think having an under trained bartender and a weird looking woman with ass long hair is a good thing for this place. You are the one that needs to worry about advertising." Kathy said. "The other girls will eat those two up."

"How about something? Put those two on trial basis for this next week, pay them, if they don't do a good job, let Kathy hire whoever she thinks is best." Joe suggested. "I like them and with the family coming in, not to mention Raw is coming through and you know how they like to come by here, I think you need all the help you can get."

Matt nodded his head in favor for his brother's statement. "All right, that's what I'll do. Kathy, those two are going to work the bar for one week, especially when the rest of my family comes in. Especially with the drinkers we got, we need all the help in the bar that we need."

"Fine, whatever." Kathy rolled her eyes.

"Hey," Jon spoke up. "They went to the restaurant. I'm heading over there." Jon stood up and grabbed his sunglasses. "See you jokers later."

"Dude, you're not the only one that wants to talk to them." Colby slid off his bar seat and followed the other man through the door that went to the restaurant side.

"Maybe we should catch up, you know how Jon can get around pretty things." Joe said standing up.

The last thing Matt would want was to get these two good potential bartenders to walk out even before they had a chance to show what they really got to show him.

* * *

**Here's a note: I know nothing about bartending or drinks, so I hoped I brought this out reasonable for you guys. **

**Don't worry, more is to come in the next couple of days. So stay tuned and thanks for reading and reviewing.**


	3. Chapter 3

Phoebe and Heather were talking at a booth towards the middle of Island Boi in the restaurant area, sharing a shrimp bowl. The long haired blond was reclining back a little, her arm resting behind her head while she picked up the battered shrimp with the other to eat. Heather was sitting more upright, her back straight against the cool leather of the booth but still enjoying the fact that she had someone to talk to.

"So you grew up here in Pensacola?" Phoebe asked taking a drink of the ice water she had ordered.

Heather nodded. "I did. I uh, I went to the same high school as Joe Anoa'i."

"Is he the Roman Reigns guy? Sorry, I'm not all that well versed with wrestling or wrestling history. I only just got introduced to that world today. I've never heard of those men who were sampling our drinks. Only from what I heard the other women said."

Heather pushed her hair from her face as she took a drag of her Ice Tea. "Then you would probably be the first. Most of the people here are related to Matt and Joe in some way or another. One of the potential hires is actually Joe's wife's sister. Anyway, how old are you?"

"I'm twenty-one, I'll be twenty two in August. How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-six."

This whole getting to know you thing was Phoebe's intention with Heather. She may have been younger than Heather but Heather definitely was just like herself when she was younger. The only reason why Phoebe was the way she was at that moment was because she wanted the success, she needed to be assertive when she needed to be and if it meant achieving her dreams then that was what she was going to do.

"Hello, Ladies." Dean Ambrose said as he came to stand next to their table.

"I was wondering if you would catch onto that, Mr. Ambrose." Phoebe said, sitting up a little.

"Oh, only Dean Ambrose will fly at the bar, Rapunzel. But right now, I'm just Jon Good."

"Good, that's your last name?" She asked moving over in the booth. "Wanna join us? I have a feeling that's why you're even here. And no, you may not touch my hair."

He smirked, showing off his dimple in his left cheek. "I can't promise that but sure. So, what is it that brought you here?"

"To Island Boi?" He nodded. "I want to be a bartender, but one day I want to be a bar owner and this is the right place to begin. You can't start out at the top unless you work your butt off to get there."

"I think you have the right attitude." Seth said walking up. "I'm Colby Lopez by the way. Mind if I sit next to you?" He asked looking at Heather.

"Yeah, sure." She pushed her drink down the table and saved him enough room. "We were just talking about wrestling before you showed up." She blushed and looked down at her glass.

"Oh yeah, so you both are wrestling fans huh?"

"Sorry to burst your A-List bubble, honey, I'm not familiar with you at all. Matt told me he was related to some guy called The Rock and Roman Reigns, but I had no clue who they were. Still have no clue about who The Rock is, but I figured out Joe was Roman."

Colby chuckled. "That's actually kind of cool. We don't usually meet people who don't know who we are."

"Nevertheless, you're sitting with the best of them. At least that's me." Jon boasted, draping an arm around the back of the booth, just behind Phoebe's head.

"Funny, at least I'm getting a push." Colby retorted

"I'm in a movie."

"I'm in a free video game." A third voice said, making Phoebe jump a little.

Joe walked up with his brother Matt. Phoebe smiled at them, but being stuck on the inside of the booth seat, she didn't try to stand up.

"I came by to tell you two that we're going to try something out." Matt told the two women as his brother looked at the four sitting at the booth. "For a week, you will work here, paid work, that way I can assess if you are good enough to work here permanently. How does that sound for you two ladies?"

"That sounds perfect to me. It gives me a chance to get better acquainted with how the bar is run." Phoebe looked at Heather, kicking her foot underneath the table. "You'll be great, Heather."

"Think so?" She asked.

"Oh, honey, I know so."

"All right you two, time to get out of here." Joe said, pointing out his two friends. "Thank you for keeping an eye on them, ladies." He smiled at the women. "We'll let you get back to your meal."

Jon reached out and stole a few pieces of shrimp, stuffed them in his mouth and then patted Phoebe's knee before getting up. "Thanks for the awesome service and great company."

Phoebe smiled at him, swiping at the crumbs that he left on her slacks. "Don't mention it, Sweetie."

"Mom is going to love her." Joe mumbled to Matt.

Not quite sure of what she just heard, Phoebe watched the three men that had once been The Shield walk out of Island Boi BBQ. Heather, though still awfully quiet, looked a bit more relaxed when it was just her, Phoebe and Matt.

"Is that Jon Good guy always so flirtatious?" Phoebe asked.

"Only to those he likes." Matt said.

"What about the other two? Colby I can tell is a nice guy, and Joe, your brother, I'm not sure what to think about him."

"Well, he's married, so…"

Phoebe held up her hands and waved them slightly. "No, that's not what I was getting at. He's calm, he's serene, but he's, guarded? Yeah, I'm not sure if I described him right. I don't really see him as a bar guy."

Matt sighed and ran his hand over his face. "That's because he's married and has a daughter."

"Yeah? What about you, sir? Do you have a family to go home to?"

"I got three kids of my own. I'm newly divorced." Matt smiled at the picture of his kids in his head. "Koa and Joe's daughter Malia go to the same school and everything. They are best friends and cousins, close friends and the same age. Koa will do his first grade homework over at Joe's house or Malia will come over to mine."

Phoebe smiled. "I wish I had that close of a family growing up. My life was usually moving around from one place to another, my dad trying to find work in different things that never usually panned out. It wasn't all that good."

"What got you interested in being a bartender?" Matt pulled a chair from a nearby unused table so that he could sit facing the two women.

"Math and chemistry, more so chemistry because mixing things to make a whole new substance seemed to fit what I wanted to do. And it's not just alcohol, I like to make frozen drinks, soda drinks, non-alcoholic cocktail drinks, experimenting. Just because I like what I pursued as a career."

"You have as much passion for bartending as my family has it for wrestling."

Phoebe merely shrugged in response.

"What about you, Heather, why did you want to become a bartender?"

"I, uh, well, I'm probably like the other women who tried out. I knew your family years and years ago. I went to high school with Joe. But bartending, I've been doing that sort of thing on and off since I was eighteen I think. I'm good, but I'm not great like Phoebe is."

"Practice makes perfect." The other woman responded. "I'm five years younger than her."

Matt laughed. "You are one interesting woman, Phoebe."

He wasn't that far off.

* * *

Rochelle wasn't home when Joe got back home. Grateful for that, he decided to go about trying to find something to do. Joe was not really a home body but he figured since he'd been on a the road for a long time that he needed to do something. On the days that he was home, he'd be home and wait for Malia to get off the bus. Otherwise Jordan, his seventeen year old nephew, would be out there waiting for the bus. Joe and Matt lived six houses from each other, so it wasn't uncommon for Matt's son to watch not only Malia but his own siblings.

The one thing that Rochelle did not like doing was vacuuming. She hated the bulky machine. While most of the downstairs was wooden, the upstairs was carpeted. So while he was vacuuming up the upstairs, he kept an eye on the time to pick up Malia. Her bus dropped her off at two fifty in the afternoon, he had plenty of time to pick up around the upstairs.

"Oh, Princess." He chuckled seeing his daughter's room.

Malia was a girly girl, she loved her pretty pink, purple and frilly girl things. But there was a rather interesting collection of Disney princess stuff, with a minor exception of The Shield action figures. Seth was have a tea party with Cinderella, Dean seemed to be reading a book in the Cinderella Castle doll house with Belle and Roman was hanging out with Simba's Pride on Malia's bed.

"I'll never understand this." He said looked at the fact that Rapunzel from Tangled was also sitting on the bed with Roman and Simba's pride.

Picking up a few of the stuffed animals with no Disney association, he put then down on the window seat where they were supposed to go. After that, Joe left his little girl's room.

The door opened and slammed shut. Oh Rochelle's home, Joe thought as he started putting the vacuum back up in the hall closet near the master bedroom.

"Chelle, that you, Baby?" Joe called out as walked down the stares.

What he was greeted to was a retail therapy result. Rochelle was heading towards the stairs with several bags of cloths on each of her arms.

"Chelle?" He asked.

"I took my day off today, Joe. Then you ran away so I had to do something. And no, I didn't spend any of your money." She walked up towards him.

Not wanting to start another fight, Joe stepped aside for his wife to get by. Keeping his mouth shut was hard to do, especially when Rochelle seemed to be off on a tantrum over something again. First it had been with his co-worker Paige, who he gave a ride to the arena with and some fan filmed it. So, what, nothing happened. And then it seemed like her sisters and cousins were all about him cheating.

At least that was how the first fight of the day had gone. Now it was him in general, running away.

"Where did you go?" Rochelle asked, knowing that Joe had followed her to the bedroom.

Their room was large, with a large California king four poster bed at the center of it. There was a walk in closet that was split in half for both him and Rochelle, though if she got any more cloths then she was going to get the majority of the closet.

"It started as a walk but then Matt called and asked to help see if the guys and I could judge a group of potential bartenders."

"Kathy, she doesn't know how to run a bar."

"Then why does she work for my brother?" Joe asked.

"I don't know." She threw down the new shirt that was in her hands. "I'm just sick of it all."

"Sick of what? You know I would never step out on you. I was raised better than that, Chelle." He walked up to his wife.

"You and Malia are my life, I don't want to ruin that."

Touching her back, she looked at him. He leaned down and kissed her, pushing his fingers into her hair. Shoving the bags of new cloths off the bed, he eased her down onto the bed, growling as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

But the annoying alarm on Rochelle's phone went off, at the same time his did. Groaning into the kiss, Joe reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Malia is going to be home soon." He looked down at his wife, seeing her dark and curly hair fanned out across the middle of the bed. "God, you're so gorgeous, Chelle."

"So are you, hot stuff." She reached out and tugged on his belt, pulling him down into a kiss. "Go pick up out little girl."

"Okay." Giving her one last kiss, he stepped back from the bed. "Sorry about the cloths, Babe."

"Nothing is ruined so it's no big deal. I can forgive you for that. But you're going to pay me back tonight, right?"  
"You better believe that."

Heading downstairs and then out the front door, Joe stood outside on the front porch waiting for the yellow school bus that came through the neighborhood.

"Hey Uncle Joe!" He looked around and saw Jordan riding by on his bike.

"Hey, Kid. You're late!"

"I know!" He rode on by heading towards his house he stayed at during the week with his father and two younger siblings.

That was when the yellow school bus that Malia rode came down the street. There was a bus stop at the stop sign in front of Matt's house and that was where the bus stop was for the neighborhood kids. Joe started down the sidewalk and saw a little girl in a pink dress and a Cinderella backpack came off the bus. Her dark curly black hair was up in two pigtails and she carried a pink little tote bag that probably held more school library books.

It wasn't hard to surprise Malia because Joe was the largest man in the neighborhood, muscle wise and had long black hair. So when she saw Joe she squealed and ran to him, nearly dropping her tote bag.

"Daddy!" The six year old yelled.

"Princess!" He laughed leaning down to hug her.

There was no better feeling than having his daughter hug him. Well, there was but he wasn't going to think about it.

"How was school?"

"Okay, Mrs. Thompson took us to check out books for this weekend to read. See." She held out the tote to him.

"Do you want me to take it for you?" He started to reach for the handles.

"No, I got it." She jerked it back and started for the house.

Joe shook his head and followed his daughter. She tried to skip, unfortunately the tote bag nearly caused her to face plant into the sidewalk. At least he was there to catch her as she fell.

"Thank you, Daddy." She smiled at him as he put her back down on her feet. "Is mommy home?"

"Yeah, she is."

"Daddy, Aunt Kathy says you looked at her funny." Malia said as she held his hand.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know but she told Mommy that. Aunt Kathy talks about you a lot. Something about being loose. That you sleep with rats on the road. Rats are gross, Daddy."

Sighing, he Joe held the door open. "Sweetie, I'm not sleeping with rats. And yes they are gross."

This was another thing that Joe was going to have to talk to Rochelle about. But not when they were back to some normalcy.

Besides she had him to pay her back for knocking her bags of cloths off the bed later that night. He could wait pay what she wanted.

* * *

**Well, it's a slow go but I managed to get this chapter done for you guys. Hope you enjoyed it. I'll be back again soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

Phoebe learned something when she came by Island Boi BBQ the day after her job interview. The woman at the cash register, Danica, was actually Matt's and Joe's sister in law. She was the second oldest of the Irving kids, at least that's what Danica told her the next day when she came in for work.

"You know, I don't think you have what it takes." Danica said as she followed Phoebe back to the workers locker room, as it was so fondly called.

Turning her head, Phoebe looked at the dark haired woman as she shoved her backpack into the locker that she was given. "Doesn't mean I can't try at least." She said.

Heather walked in the door, saw Danica and Phoebe in there and smiled at the longest haired woman. "Hi. Phoebe, I took your advice."

"What advice?" Danica asked.

"To get a better understanding of a bar setting, go to one. Was it that Tiki bar over on Climmons?" Phoebe asked pulling off her t-shirt to reveal her tank top undershirt.

"Yeah, it was a great place."

"I did some temp stuff over there when I first moved here. That's a really great bar, next to the beach and everything." Phoebe boasted as she shut the locker and put a lock on it.

"The bartender I talked to was really nice about helping me memorize some of the easier tropical drinks. It wasn't a busy night so he had a chance to focus on me."

Danica rolled her eyes, groaned and walked away.

"I don't think anyone in here likes us." Heather whispered slightly.

"So I've been told. I wished I had a voice recorder, you know. She told me that I don't have what it takes to be here."

"Do you think she's racist? Did you see most of the workers, they are dark skinned."

"That is as illegal as it can get." Phoebe watched as Heather started putting her stuff in a locker as well. "I just don't like that the wardrobe is like Hooters around here. I don't mind the shorts, I just don't like bikini tops. I'm not exactly the tiniest person around the middle." She said resting her hands on her stomach.

Heather shrugged. "I used to model so I'm used to it."

"Dressing like this in New York, was not going to happen, honey." Tugging at her ponytail, Phoebe sighed. "So, let's make today the best day. Yesterday was easy, yesterday is always the easiest day."

Heather and Phoebe exited and went to look for Kathy Irving, their bar manager. They found her in the bar, texting at the bar and drinking a glass of some sort of mixed spirit. She dressed much like the rest of the staff at Island Boi, and that gave her the more exotic look than what Phoebe thought she herself had.

"So you decided to show up, huh?" Kathy asked, looking up at the two temporary bartenders.

Phoebe offered a smile, nodding. "Yeah, we did. So, what do you need us to do today?"

"All I can think of is clean. So go do it." She waved them off and went back to texting.

Heather looked at Phoebe, scared was written all over the slightly older woman's face. "Come on, I think I know where to start." Phoebe said, motioning for Heather to follow her.

Kathy went back to not doing her job, and Phoebe took Heather behind the bar.

"I wonder what really is going on in these bottles." Phoebe said picking up a few that were under the bar and not on the back shelf where the bottles were supposed to be kept.

She inspected each bottle, holding them up to the light and then shaking her head at several. The bar was okay, the decor really needed some work and for the lack of hospitality with co-workers, that could have gone better in Phoebe's mind.

"What are you doing?" Heather asked.

"Inspecting the bottles, especially the ones kept down here. And a lot of them I don't like. I can only assume that the ones on the back wall is any worse." She said, trying to keep her voice down.

"Why?"

"Most of these used bottles have fruit flies in them." She held a bottle up to the light and showed the small flecks in the bottle to the other woman. "Most of these need to be thrown out."

Ten minutes or so later, Matt came walking by the bar, having heard that the two temporary women were there. "Hi, Ladies. How are things?" He asked.

"From the looks of these bottles, not really good." Phoebe said, putting another bottle down on the bar she began reaching for another bottle on the back wall.

He picked one up. "What sort of problems are you talking about?"

"There's bugs in them. And they were being used on your brother yesterday. The Irish creme and the schnapps were fine, unopened but the more fruity spirits were being invaded."

"Oh god." Matt groaned as he picked up another bottle Phoebe had put down on top of the bar.

"I didn't see it because I was more focused on the interview the other day. I wanted nothing more to impress you, and to help Heather out but I neglected to inspect the bottles."

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

"The bar itself looks okay, the floor needs to be mopped. Kathy Irving told us to clean the bar, which I plan on doing today before tonight. Um, right now, nothing really alarming. Yet at least."

Matt ran a hand over his face and groaned. "Are we low on anything?"  
"Yeah, you are after I dump these bottles."

Then he turned around to look at Kathy. "Kathy!" he nearly yelled, which caused Heather and Kathy to jump. Phoebe had anticipated the outburst because if he had any passion for the bar business like she did he would have been pissed off about it.

Putting down her phone, Kathy hurried over to the bar. "Yeah, Matt?"

He handed her a bottle. "Is there anything wrong with this?" He asked.

She looked at it, swished it around but shrugged. "I don't see anything wrong."

"So there's nothing wrong with there being flies in there?"

Phoebe and Heather looked at each other before Phoebe went back inspecting the bottles. Heather didn't look like she knew what to do so Phoebe tossed her a towel and nodded towards the opposite end of the bar while Matt chewed out Kathy.

"I want you to go get more of these to replace the ones that you have neglected to look after. You're the bar manager, Kathy, you're supposed to be on top of these things."

"Bartenders are supposed to…"

"Bar managers run the bar. They make sure that everything is running smoothly. That much I do know about a owning a bar." He put the bottle back on top of the bar. "Do your job. If it wasn't for her, we'd be sued for poisoning patrons."

"But…"

"Joe was being served from these bottles. He's my brother. If he gets sick I'm putting it all on you. I sure as hell don't want a lawsuit if a real patron gets sick from this place."

Phoebe caught the glare from Kathy before the other woman walked out, grabbing her phone on the way out. "I didn't mean to start a problem but I didn't want you to get in trouble." Phoebe told Matt.

"No, I should be thanking you. You've pointed out things that need to be done. That's great. Keep up the good work. Kill it, Heather." Matt smiled at the strawberry blond wiping down the bar.

"I'm going to check the bottles, make sure there are more somewhere. Also I need to check the taps and make sure that the beer despensers are running cold. So while I do that, why don't you go up there and see about cleaning off the fans over the bar. I don't think dust in a daiquiri will taste all that great." Phoebe told Heather.

"Okay." She responded.

They had a lot of work to do for this place if they wanted to make a good impression in order to work there.

* * *

It wasn't that Joe wanted to see those temporary bartenders but he had nothing better to do for the next couple of days. With this being Friday and Malia in school, and Rochelle at her job, Joe had nothing to do. Jon offered to join him, wanting to check out the girls too.

"Rapunzel seems to know what the hell she's doing." He said as they parked in the Island Boi parking lot.

"She does, and she went out of her way to help that mousy girl, Heather? I swear I've seen her somewhere before but I'm not sure where. You'd think I would remember a name like Heather Blaise."

Jon laughed at his friend. "You've got too much on your mind. Let's just go in there and have some fun."

"Fine, but after yesterday I'm not drinking and having my wife get on my ass about it." Joe said as he opened his door.

They walked into the restaurant, flush with lunch goers. The midday rush was on. Friday night, he could only guess how the bar was going to be.

"Hi, Joe. Hi Jon." Danica greeted them as she was tending to a paying customer. "Matt is in the kitchen helping with the rush. I could get you guys a seat somewhere."

"We'll be eating in the bar." Jon said.

"Why? It's not even open."

"Just to have something to do, something to watch." He shrugged.

"You're talking about those two girls that are being hired temporarily. Did you hear, they got Kathy in trouble. That's my sister, Joe. No one has the right to hurt my family."

Joe shook his head. "Maybe she's just good at what she does. Come on, Uce." Joe nudged his so called brother. So called because they were still great friends as Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose with the WWE.

Entering the bar, they found the strawberry blond standing on the bar dusting the ceiling. There was lots and lots of particles falling down, what looked like gray snow turned out to be a large accumulation of dust. Right over where him and his friends were sitting the day before.

She looked at them, frozen in the spot because Jon was standing nearly crotch level with her.

"Hey there, Strawberry Shortcake." He said. "Where's Rapunzel?"

"Back here, hand scrubbing the floor." He heard a faint voice from behind the bar say.

Jon and Joe leaned over and found Phoebe with her braided ponytail wrapped in a bun at the back of her head, she was on her hands and knees scrubbing. She glanced up at them, smiled and waved before dunking the scrub brush into the mop bucket.

"That floor is the nicest I've ever seen in a long time." Joe commented.

"I guess that's good." She responded.

She went back to working. The two men sat down after Heather finished dusting overhead. She hopped off the bar and took the spray cleaner and began to clean where she had been standing.

"So, where in New York are you from?" Joe asked as he watched Phoebe.

She turned to look at him as she was picking up the dirty glasses and put them into a rinse tub. "Manhattan, actually close to Ground Zero. I went to the Manhattan School of Mixology, where I specialized in flair bartending also. I'll be right back."

She left, Joe watching her as she went.

"So, Strawberry Shortcake, got a boyfriend?" Jon asked Heather.

"No, I don't. I'm not looking either." She said as she continued to clean, but managed to smile at him nonetheless.

Joe's attention went back the the strawberry blond, the quiet mousy one. "I swear I've seen you before or knew you at least. I'm sorry, I just…"

"We went to high school." She interjected. "I was a freshman and you were a junior. We went to the same school for two years before you graduated."

"Oh, great. I knew I should have remembered you, there was no way of missing your hair."

Heather smiled at him. "Yeah, it gave me problems."

"It shouldn't. Seen my hair lately?" Jon asked, ruffling his dirty blond curls with his hand. "At least you were blessed with a full head of hair. It seems like my hair recedes an inch every year."

Joe and Heather laughed together. She looked like she was opening up, that she was having a fun time talking to someone like Jon and not freaking out.

"Hey, Rapunzel, how long have you let your hair grow that long?" Jon asked seeing Phoebe come back from the bar kitchen.

"Since my teen years." She replied. "I have thin hair, no volume so it doesn't really hurt if I keep it this long. I tend to get people that like to pull on it a lot though." Phoebe looked up as she was putting more dirty glasses into the tub. "Sorry, but we're closed so no buttery nipples or duck farts for you today. Though water's free for everyone."

"I'll take a glass of water." Joe said, relaxing a bit.

"On the rocks?"

"Sure."

Heather looked at Jon. "Would you like some water too, sir?" She asked as she wiped down the bar with a rag.

Putting his hand on hers, Jon leaned forward and smiled. "How about dropping the sir crap? But yes, I'll take whatever you're serving."

Joe wasn't expecting Phoebe to come back with a glass of ice water with a lemon wedge in it and ask the question that she did. "Not to sound, I don't know pushy, but Matt said you were the married one, with a daughter?"

"Malia, my daughter, is my little princess. She loves the color pink. She's in first grade and loves it. But she's having math issues. But I'm married to the oldest sister. Rochelle, Danica and Kathy are sisters."

Skipping the names of the three sisters, Phoebe smiled. "I loved math growing up. It was my subject. I guess I excelled at bartending because I also grew up loving chemistry."

"I dropped out of high school." Jon butted in.

"Well, I plan on becoming something so that way I can succeed when I do have a family. Hey if you want, I can always help your daughter with math."

"No, I don't want to bother you with something like that." Joe waved her off.

"No trouble at all. Children are our future. They choose our nursing homes after all."

This woman was so intriguing. She may not have had the best features of an attractive woman but she carried herself right. She talked with great care, she engaged him on stuff like his daughter, which no fans had ever done before. Joe was finding this woman someone he could actually sit and talk to without having to talk about one thing, his wrestling career.

The door opened and in came Kathy with a box of bottles. Joe and Jon glanced at her, but then went back to talking to Heather and Phoebe as they continued working around the bar.

"I thought I told you to clean the bar." She said.

"We are. I'm getting the dirty glassware out of the way, Heather cleared up the snowing dust issue, I managed to clean the floor and we're working on sorting out this bar for tonight." Phoebe listed off.

"Well, here are all the bottles you need to put back there." She put the box on the bar, shoving it at Phoebe's face.

"Isn't it the manager's job to keep the bar stocked?" Jon asked. "I'm in a bar enough to know something about running one."

She smiled at him, which earned a weird look from Jon in return. "Honey, don't worry about it. It's all a bartender's job to do what the manager says. Besides, she's just a temp, both of them. They won't be around long enough to fully make an impact on the bar."

Phoebe stopped mid-swipe of the rag in her hand. Joe could see she wanted to say something, to say something in remark but he knew that if she did it would only give Kathy ammo to fire her on the spot.

"Why did you have to go pick up another batch of bottles?" Joe asked.

"They others were old."

"Liquor keeps well after being opened, but it needs to be used fast or be covered at all times otherwise bugs get in the bottles. Especially if the area hasn't been properly cleaned before." Phoebe told him as she started putting the bottles at the back of the bar.

"I was drinking bugs?" Joe turned to look at Kathy.

She shook her hands. "No, you weren't. That was a fresh bottle the girls were working with yesterday." She tried to defend herself as she glared at the new bartender.

Joe caught the shake of Phoebe's head before she started taking the bottles out of the box and placing them on the back shelf. Phoebe was going to have a run for her money if and when she can get a foot in the door with this place.

* * *

**I am sorry for not updating yesterday, I ended up having a nasty cold for the last couple of days. So I hope this made up for the missing day. Hope you enjoyed it. Plenty more to come soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

After spending some time with Jon, Heather and Phoebe, while the two women were getting the bar ready for their first night on the job, Joe had declared he was going to stay home with his wife Rochelle and his daughter Malia. Phoebe encouraged this decision.

"You need to spend as much time with them as you can when you're home." She said as Joe was getting ready to leave.

Jon had a few things with the WWE to do and he told them that they would see him later. No specification as to when but he promised both Heather and Phoebe that he would be back to see them. Phoebe didn't mind that, considering that Heather was oddly quiet through much of the exchanges going on.

Kathy introduced her cousins Candace and Katrina to Phoebe and Heather as they neared the opening for the bar that night.

"You will shadow them to see how work is done around here. You won't need to be doing anything tonight, just make sure that the glasses are still there and that the bottles are filled and stuff like that." Kathy told the two women.

Candace and Katrina giggled, especially when Phoebe crossed her arms in near defiance. Essentially what they were being told was that they were nothing more than bar-backs. They were just going to do menial work for the bartenders with no real bartending duties, nor interaction with patrons. Not what Phoebe signed up for.

As it stood, Phoebe knew that whatever happened on her first night as a bartender that it would either be a good thing or a bad thing. Either way she was going to be showing up those two women.

The only good that came through the door was the man who had Good as a last name.

Jon came by the bar about an hour after it had opened. There were maybe ten people in there, sitting at the booths but not really at the bar. Candace and Katrina were just talking to one of the tables filled with women. This left him alone at the bar with Phoebe and Heather.

"Hey there, Rapunzel, Strawberry Shortcake." He said, causing most of the people in the bar to look at him as he approached the bar. "What's a man gotta do to get a kick ass drink?"

"Depends on what you're asking. We got a fresh load of Kahlua in here, I think one of these nice ladies can whip up a shot or two for you." Phoebe responded putting a few more glasses under the bar.

"Why not you?"

"We're not serving tonight." Heather responded checking the fullness of the bottles on the lower side of the bar. "And we're getting low on the bitters."

"Well that's bull shit. The only reason why I came here was to see you two. Know what, give me a Samoan Drop, maybe if I drink enough I will drop."

"I'm sorry, I can't pour tonight."

"I'll say it again, that's bull shit, Rapunzel." He said crossing his arms and leaning on the bar.

Taking charge, Candace walked around to behind the bar. "Can I help you, Jon?"

Jon rolled his eyes, kind of childish in Phoebe's mind. "No, I want Phoebe to serve me."

The darker haired woman tried to talk but Phoebe stopped her. "I'll do it, Candace. We don't need a fight on our hands and then a bad rep getting back to Matt."

"Kathy told you to do something, you need to do it."

Phoebe ignored the woman as she twirled a bottle of Kahlua from behind the bar so she could prepare the off blue colored drink for the man known as Dean Ambrose.

The commotion from what Jon had said caused most of the patrons to look over at the bar. But it was when in about a minute flat that Phoebe produced what looked like an off blue colored Blue Hawaiian to this large man at the bar, most of the women took notice. And it also helped that Phoebe had flipped the bottles and the glasses in a juggling act for the wrestler.

"You're very entertaining, Rapunzel." Jon told her.

"Well, entertainers need to be entertained. You look like you had a rough day." She said as she cleaned up some of the slight spills she had created during her little show.

"Tell me about it. I had three different interviews, most of them down in Miami. I couldn't wait to get here and see you again." He ruffled his hair slightly.

What he had said finally clicked in her brain.

"So wait, you drove all the way to Miami, some time today, did your stuff and then came all the way back up here just to see me? I'm flattered, Jon, I really am but,"

"If you say you're not worth it I may just kiss you to shut you up." He said, making Phoebe blush for the first time since she had been in his presence.

"Oh, well, as nice of a threat as that was, I'm not buying it."

"Are you daring me to kiss you?"

"No, that would be too much effort. You are handsome but I am trying to do a job tonight."

Phoebe turned to look at Heather, who was smiling. Phoebe looked at Jon and then at Heather and then back to Jon.

"Tell you what, Jon, drink the Samoan Drop and chat Heather up while I need go refill the ice bin. And then find more bitters for the bar."

Candace and Katrina were glaring at her as Heather went about the bar-back business that she and Heather were told to do. No one was coming to get second drinks, Phoebe had seen the way some of them cringed when tasting the drinks they were given. If proving that she could do something like a Blue Hawaiian for a man, one with a kick, maybe then their sales would go up.

As Phoebe was coming back with another ice bin, there were already six women standing at the bar.

"Excuse me, miss, could you remake our drinks?" A blond woman asked.

"Is there something wrong?" Phoebe asked her as she drop the bin into it's spot at the back of the bar.

"I wanted a Martini and it didn't taste right. Also I saw what you did with this gentleman and he says it's good whatever you made him. I would like another martini and whatever you gave him."

"Who else wants a Samoan Drop?" Phoebe asked the other women at the bar.

All of them wanted a Samoan Drop, which prompted Phoebe to enlist the help of Heather.

"You take three and I take three, and I'll do that martini. If and when a bar gets overrun, you have to learn to make three or more drinks at the same time so that way you don't get backed up." Phoebe explained. "Do each step the same on the three same glasses. That's right, now you're doing it." Phoebe encouraged her new friend.

They saved time by doing this for the six women. And Phoebe and Heather did it with a smile, engaging the women that they were making the drinks for. Jon looked pretty proud of himself for making the two bartender women become the center of attention in the bar that night. Even he smiled

"Here, this is a tip." The first woman who approached Phoebe about redoing her drinks handed a ten over to the long haired woman. "I really like your service. We're going to bring our girlfriends here so you can serve us next time."

"Oh, well thank you. I hope to see you again too."

"Here, this is for you." Heather was given a tip as well. "It's really neat to see sisters working in a bar together."

"We're not sisters. But Phoebe looks out for me." Heather smiled as she started cleaning the bar.

Looking around, Phoebe found Candace and Katrina talking Kathy in the back corner of the bar, none of them looked really happy with what happened. It became apparent that Candace was very smitten with Jon, who stayed to talk to the two bartender women even after the small groups of women left for the night. Candace adjusted her top when Jon looked at where Phoebe was looking and smiled.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" Heather whispered, glancing at Phoebe.

"I know we did a good thing for the bar. We brought in more money than they had rung up tonight. And we are the ones bringing back customers, not them."

Jon nodded. "Yeah, you both were kick ass. If they even had half of the skills you both have, then maybe this place wouldn't stink so bad."

"Stink? Smell wise or service?"

"Both. Before you two came in, this place smelt weird. The service was shit and the women seemed to enjoy trying to seduce Joe, even if he was married to one of their sisters or cousins or whatever. I know this is a family restaurant but really, they have no taste to them. It was like Matt was sorry that they didn't have a job."

Phoebe didn't think she would ever hear how bad the place was. But she was beginning to see what the place could really be like with more effort behind it. But it was an effort that Kathy, Candace and Katrina didn't have.

"I think Matt needs to bring in that Bar Rescue show. Or he needs you to take everything and turn it into something grand." Jon told her.

"I'm not going to say something condescending about Matt's business. It's not my place to judge. But I agree, this bar or lounge or whatever it is, needs a lot more work to it. I'm glad to help but what am I going to do, I'm just a bartender, we're just bartenders." Phoebe motioned to Heather and herself. "I need this job to be successful."

She needed this to work because she was at her lowest point in her life. This was the best that she could come up with and even with not feeling like she was being looked down on, even Heather for that matter, Phoebe was going to make the best of this.

* * *

Most of the day had been spent with Rochelle and Malia, after he had gotten back from his trip to Island Boi. It wasn't the fact that he was hiding Phoebe from Rochelle but he didn't want her to know about Phoebe, why he wasn't sure.

Later that night, when Malia had just gone to bed shortly before Matt showed up at the other Anoa'i house. Rochelle let him in for Joe, who was still upstairs.

"Uce, what's going on? What brings you here?"

"Mandy came over to watch the kids. I had one hard day today." Matt responded, running a hand over his head. "I really don't know what to do with those two women."

"The temps you hired? How are they doing?" Rochelle asked as the three of them headed for the kitchen. "Wine?"

"No, thanks. I just came over to talk about some things with Joe. And you if you want."

Joe put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "It isn't your heart again, is it?"  
With Matt's recent heart attack, it was one of the reasons why he had not been really managing and owning Island Boi like he had been. Joe had a hard time getting time off work to go see his brother in the hospital, but with Matt on the mend, seeing how tired he looked was a little worrying for Joe.

"No, it has nothing to do with my heart."

Joe watched his brother with a curious gaze. It had only been a few months since his last heart attack, it would break their mother's heart if he were to have another issue like that while trying to get his business back up to par.

Sitting down at the island in the middle of the large kitchen, Matt sighed. "I've been getting updates on the temps that I hired. Tonight was their first night that they worked at the bar. They pulled in a fair amount of money, there were like twenty transactions and an added tip for the both of them."

"That sounds great." Rochelle said.

"But Candace and Katrina were not thrilled with it."

Even Joe was a little taken aback by what he heard. "What do you mean?"

"Kathy told me about Phoebe blowing off what she was told to do. It didn't help that Jon was there solely for the purpose of chatting up her and Heather Blaise."

"Heather Blaise? Wasn't she the one that went to school with us for a few years. Everyone ragged her about being a ginger and all of that." Rochelle looked at her husband with a finely shaped eyebrow raise. "The nerd that won the school chemistry achievement or something like that?"  
"I don't remember, I was sort of focused on other things. Like you." Joe smiled at Rochelle.

She smiled and laughed at the same time. "Kidder."

"Actually, from what I remember that's true." Matt added. "He was all for you, besides football. I rubbed his face in it a few times, if memory serves me right."

That's what he wanted, the old times. The times of being with Rochelle, kissing and cuddling in the back of his car while watching the sun set to the west of them. Joe wanted the fun times with her, to be there for her but it seemed like everything was getting harder to do with Malia around and then his wrestling career finally taking off.

"Anyway, back to what you were talking about. From what I have heard from my sisters, they don't really fit the bill of the restaurant or the bar."

"I don't know how to run the bar, that part I won't hesitate to say." Matt said, his face turning down slightly. "But these two, they work great together. Phoebe seems to know how to make a lot of different things,"

"Weird things called Buttery Nipples and Duck Farts, yeah, Joe told me." Rochelle sat down next to Joe.

"But it doesn't make any sense that they would go against Kathy's instructions." Matt shook his head at the thought.

"Kathy was pushing for that chick named Justine during the try outs." Joe spoke up.

Rochelle tilted her head. "Justine? Justine Irving? Wow, I mean yeah, family restaurant and bar I get, but not Justine."

Joe tilted his head and pushed his hair out of his face. "What do you mean? I've never heard of Justine before."

"She's my half sister. Same dad, different mom. A few years younger than me. She never liked to work. She loved drinking but, you said this was for the bartender job, Matt?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Remember the drunk woman that was hanging all over you at the after party to our wedding? The one I had to get kicked out? That was Justine." Rochelle said looking at Joe. "She likes whatever everyone else is having. She's never thought she had to work for anything, that it would just be handed to her. I wonder what she was doing trying out for a bartender job."

"Well, whatever it was, I see these two temps doing a great job. Phoebe never stops teaching Heather how to do things. But then Kathy and now Danica is telling me that they were disrespectful to Candace and Kristina at the bar. Breaking the rules or whatever." Matt said.

"Talk to Phoebe about it." Joe suggested. "Raw is coming through this Monday and I know that there will be a mad rush. If what I've seen with Phoebe is anything, then she'll prove herself when Jon and Colby call for a party at the bar."

"They wouldn't." Matt looked at his brother in shock.

"They like the two girls. At least Jon does. I'm not sure about Colby but he likes making friends. And knowing them, they have been bragging about knowing a pair of great bartenders, at least from Jon's perspective." Joe explained.

The older Anoa'i brother groaned. "Then I'll get the restaurant and bar ready for Monday night."

This was not going to be the best of times for anyone.

"Matt," Rochelle looked at her brother in law.

"Yeah?"

"Joe told me about what happened with the bar earlier today, about how bad the bar seemed to be. If my sisters and cousins start something, and if they are not up to really working there, then you need to look for better bartenders and a general manager. You want this to be a family run bar. Maybe it's time to forget the family part and think about the business part."

Joe was amazed that his wife would tell his brother to do something like that. No wonder why he had decided to spend the rest of his life with her. And from what he had experienced earlier in the day, yeah, something needed to be done.

Either his sister in laws needed to clean up their act or they needed to get out.

But of course that was Matt's decision.

* * *

**Some nice reviewer asked me a while back if there was any models for Phoebe and Heather. No, I don't have any pics for reference for Heather but Phoebe is based off of Rapunzel from Tangled. Most of her features and stuff is what I have thought about Phoebe looking like. And no I have never watched Tangled. **

** Also watching Bar Rescue has helped me with at least knowing a little about running a bar. It helps the fundamentals for this story. **

** Last thing is that I want to thank everyone for reviewing, faving, following and reading. I really appreciate it everyone. So until next time, thanks everyone.**


	6. Chapter 6

After her shift at Island Boi, Phoebe was packing up her backpack in order to leave. Heather had already left, leaving Danica to lock up the restaurant and Kathy to lock up the bar area. She had just taken her hair out of the braid and smiled when realizing that she had probably made the mistake of agreeing to hang out with Jon.

Jon was a great guy, a big flirt, not that she minded being reminded that she was pretty. She had to flirt and be personal with her job. That's just what she had to do. But now, when she wasn't working it was a little difficult to remember that Jon was the friend of Matt's younger brother. And after all the crap she had to deal with in her life, she didn't want to deal with more drama.

Speaking of drama as she walked back into the bar area she found Jon leaning against a table like a supermodel man. His arms were reaching behind him to keep balance as his long legs were stretched out in front of him. But he wasn't smiling. Candace stood in front of him, her back arched slightly, trying to present him with a better view of her chest, her caramel skin getting marred by the colored fluorescent lights that were now shining in the dimmed bar.

Then Jon caught sight of Phoebe. A slow smile spread over his lips as he pushed himself up off the table, easily towering over not just Candace but as he walked towards Phoebe, she realized just how tall he was.

"You look great with your hair down like that, Rapunzel." He reached out and tugged on it.

"Thanks, I think." She shooed his hand away as she glanced at the woman behind him, glaring at her. "Can we get out of here so I don't have to be in the presence of jealousy clouded over?"

He followed her gaze again, looking at the darker woman. "Yeah, I think so. Want something to eat?"

"I could eat." She ducked and dodged as she avoided his arm that was trying to rest over her shoulders. "Can you not touch me, Jon?"

She knew she had acted strange. If anything she was trying to get Jon to go with Heather, not because she didn't like Jon but because she wasn't up to the challenge. She didn't want to pursue at relationship with anyone

"You okay there, Phoebes?" He asked stopping her.

"I flirt, yes, doesn't mean I like being touched." She told him.

Apparently her comment made the wheels in his slightly tipsy and buzzed brain turn. Regardless, he didn't try to touch her. They walked around Candace and headed out the bar. Kathy closed the door behind them and Phoebe saw her talking to her cousin before she and Jon disappeared around the corner.

"It's kind of cold out here. Are you sure you're okay with your work top?" Jon asked the long haired woman.

She nodded. "I'm sure. I'm from New York, I'm used to the weather."

He smiled as they headed for the next cross walk. "I grew up in the Projects of Cincinnati." He obviously was trying to start a conversation.

"Projects of the Bronx," she responded. "I was the outcast amongst the outcast."

"Why?" He wondered out loud.

"I moved there when I was fourteen I think. I didn't do well with people, because I knew I would eventually move again."

Jon shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He looked like he was thinking about something but Phoebe bit herself in the ass and grabbed Jon's arm.

"Want to go over there?" She asked, pointing across the street.

There was a little coffee shop that was open late on a Friday. And since she hadn't had a proper cup in a while, she thought maybe it was a good thing.

"Sorry, Rapunzel, I don't drink coffee." Jon smirked at her. "But I am hungry. A pastry of some sort doesn't sound all that bad."

They headed across the street when the light turned green. Maybe she was a little harsh on him earlier, about not wanting to be touched. She concluded that if Jon wanted to touch her, she would let it. If it not meant holding hands.

"So what brought you here to Pensacola?"

"I left New York for a new life in a new place where I didn't know anyone."

"Was life back in New York that bad?"

She nodded as Jon opened the door to the coffee shop. The place was nice and quiet, there were not a lot of people in there and when they made their orders, the two of them sat down.

"You know, Monday is when Raw comes through the area." Jon said sitting across from her.

Phoebe smiled to herself but saw a few guys at a nearby table whispering amongst themselves, pointing to her. The ends of her hair rested in her lap as she crossed her legs, bringing her attention back to Jon.

"I will be working that night."

"Good, I've set up a gathering for everyone to come down to the bar."

"Why?" She furrowed her brows.

Jon laughed. "Because of the two kick ass bartenders. You smoked them, Rapunzel."

"Being a bartender is a job, it's a show but when it's really busy it's speed and flair all together. As a bartender, I have to work under stress and make sure that everyone gets the drinks that they ask for. At Island Boi," she shook her head, shaking out some of her hair that now concealed some of her face. "That's not the case it seems."

"I don't think those chicks ever knew anything about bartending. I think they were hired because Matt felt sorry for Rochelle's family."

"Rochelle, that's Joe's wife, right?"

Jon nodded. "Yeah. Malia's Joe's daughter. Cute little thing too. She's a princess, she loves anything princess oriented. Are you trying to look like Rapunzel?"

"No, not really. I just don't have a need to cut my hair."

They talked about wrestling, because Phoebe instigated it. "Do you work a lot?"

"Some times especially if I am in one of the main angles going on. Right now I am up for the Intercontinental Championship title. I had the longest reign as the United States Champion."

She tilted her head as she looked at him. "Has your friends gotten titles, too?"

"Joe and Colby were tag team champions, much like Joe's dad and his uncle were tag team champs back when they were in the company."

"Is a lot of Joe's family in the company now?"

"He has two cousins, one of them married a diva last year. Um, The Rock, you'll meet him when he comes along on Monday."

In the light of all that had been going on in the last few days, Phoebe was becoming more intrigued with this man. His unruly curly dirty blond hair seemed to wave with his head any time he talked. And like all the times she did see him, Jon Good dressed to impress in jeans, graphic tees and he seemed to be a boot wearer, at least that night he was.

"Do you have family in wrestling?"

"Nah, no one but me. I didn't grow up with a dad, mom was not a mother, so I had to grow up by myself."

"Where? Oh right, you said Cincinnati." She tilted her head. "Where do you live now?"

"Las Vegas, it's a great place. I love running in the desert out there."

"Seen any snakes out there?"

"Several actually. Hate the damn things." He shuddered at the recent encounter with one on his early morning jog.

From the serving counter, "Rapunzel!" The barista called out when Phoebe's coffee order was up. Of course it was Jon that had put that name on her order.

She got up, paid for her coffee drink and was walking back to the table where Jon waited at. One of the idiots stood up from the table as she passed and made a grab for her hair. The tug was strong, her neck snapping backwards, her balance was off and she felt herself fall down. Her coffee tumbled to the hard floor and some of the hot liquid splashed her exposed legs.

"Wow, it is real." She heard the guy say before the body of Jon Good, now sporting his Dean Ambrose persona, was hauling ass towards the goon. "Oh shit!"

The guys at the table jumped up and ran for it. They guy that had pulled her hair soon found himself stumbling backwards over his chair from the shove he endured by Dean Ambrose.

"You have some damn nerve doing that." He growled through clenched teeth.

Phoebe, dismissing the spilled cup of coffee, was attempting to get up when she saw the hand appear in front of her face. A quick peak showed that the guy Jon shoved over the chair was running but Jon didn't leave to pursue him. He stayed behind to help Phoebe up off the ground.

"Here," he said as she glanced at him. "Let me help you up, Rapunzel."

In an attempt not to turn bright red from the embarrassment of what had happened, Phoebe grasped his larger hand and let him pull her up.

"Are you okay, Phoebes?" He asked.

"Yeah, the only things bruised are my butt and my pride." She said rubbing the sting of having her hair pulled.

The manager asked if she was okay, asked if she wanted to call the cops.

"It wouldn't be the first time something like this happened over my hair." She responded. "Actually could I get a reorder of my spilled coffee, please. I was really looking forward to it after the night I had." Phoebe smiled at the manager, who agreed to her request with no charge added.

* * *

Jon couldn't believe how calm Phoebe had been through out this entire incident. Some jack off had pulled her hair to the point that she actually looked like she had been cloths lined. On top of that, all she wanted was a coffee.

The to-go cup was cradled between her hands as they headed towards the area where she said she was staying. It was in an area known to be rough. It was in an area of Downtown Pensacola, not all that far from a popular beach, maybe six blocks or so. Even if his rental was still back at Island Boi, Jon didn't mind the walk, or the fact that they hadn't said much of a word to each other since leaving the coffee shop.

He shot a glance at Phoebe, her backpack slung on her shoulders, her hair was now placed in a low hanging ponytail as she nursed the coffee. It was a basic French vanilla coffee, no bells or whistles to it. Just simple, like her. Even if she was wearing her tank top and Daisy Dukes from her job, Phoebe still managed to appear normal.

Unlike him.

"Well, I'm just up that way." She said breaking into his silent smoldering thoughts.

She had pointed up a dimly lit side street where some of the homeless people in the area were scrounging around for food and stuff. He didn't want to believe her, a nice thing like her living in this rundown part of a nice city? No, it couldn't be.

When he hadn't said anything she started down the street heading to one of the buildings that had a single light on over the entrance door. There was a ratted old sign over it, which had faded letters over it. West Gulf Homeless Shelter, he read and then his eyes darted to Phoebe as she neared door under the sign.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Jon finally asked, once he had jogged up to her as she was about ready to enter that building.

"This is where I live now." She said pointing to the place she was going to enter.

"Like hell you are. You might catch something in there." He crossed his arms, looking at her hard.

The way she looked at him could melt the coldest of hearts. She was embarrassed now, not back in the coffee shop. He had found out her little secret and she was scared that he would tell someone. Like Matt for instance.

"Come on, I don't want you sleeping in there." He reached out to grab her wrist, but she jerked away. "I haven't kidnapped a girl in my life, don't let me start with you." He threatened, hoping that she would buy into his bluff.

She didn't.

"And what, sleep in a nice comfy hotel next to you? Think again, Mister." She made to grab the handle of the door to push herself into the building.

He grabbed her around the middle, pressing her back against his front with just one arm. He was easily a full foot and then some taller than her. She was small compared to him. Her head barely reached the middle of his chest. And the fact that she had vanilla smelling hair just nearly drove him insane.

"Get your hands off me, Jon." She fought against him, which at that point was a come on for him. Flirting with death.

"Rapunzel, I'm not letting you go." He tightened his grip on her middle. "Until I have to leave Florida in the next couple of days."

She was breathing heavily. Her chest rising and falling as she stared at him in the murky reflection of the window in front of them. Jon had to fight the urge to lean down and kiss her neck, because if she put up that much of a fight then he was certain she would go after him physically. He wasn't sure if he should press his luck with a woman he didn't know.

"If that's what it will take to have you leave me alone, then fine, I will." She finally submitted to him.

Score one for Jon, he thought releasing her slightly.

"But I'm not sleeping with you." She quickly and smartly added when she turned to look a him. 'And you better not go telling everyone, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Rapunzel."

He didn't care, he was just glad to get her out of that area. He'd cursed himself for being so rough with her, nearly scaring her away. But in the end he did get her to go back to his hotel.

* * *

As they were entering the hotel, Jon and Phoebe were heading to the elevator, Jon heard someone call out to him.

"Uh, hi, Renee." He said looking at the WWE interviewer.

He didn't know what to do, or say as she looked at Phoebe. Jon looked at Phoebe, who didn't seem to know Renee, and then it hit him that Phoebe didn't know anything about wrestling. Phoebe didn't know who Renee was.

"Fan of yours?" She asked, gesturing to Phoebe.

"Bartender." Phoebe responded.

"Oh." Renee looked confused, of course she would be. She didn't know anything about Jon Good, or what he was like. She barely knew him for a couple of days.

"What do you want, Renee?"

"I was just curious as to why you opted to stay at this hotel when Raw and SmackDown were in Miami and Orlando." The blond woman said, still casting glances towards Phoebe.

Jon shrugged. "No reason why. Met two kick ass bartenders and Rapunzel is one of them. Strawberry Shortcake went home right after work."

"And you brought this one back here?"

"None of your damn business." Jon snapped, making the woman step back.

Grabbing Phoebe's hand, he pulled her into the elevator then pushed the floor number and watched the door slide closed on Renee.

"Girlfriend?"

"Something like that." He responded as he reclined against the wall.

Phoebe stood there watching him. She grasped her backpack strap and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Jon fought that urge just to kiss her. He'd been thinking about it with both of them women, Phoebe's playful side and Heather's more reserved and shy side. He'd wondered what it would be like to kiss them both but then again that would make him a man whore.

What was he talking about, he already was one.

* * *

**Well there you have another update. I want to thank you all for all your comments and reviews. Some of them actually helped add to what I already had going on. It just adds to the plot I guess. Again thanks for helping, and thanks for reading. **


	7. Chapter 7

**I wanted to give you guys another update.**

* * *

Saturday morning, Phoebe woke up in a nice soft bed. She had thought it was a dream, enjoying the glow of finally getting a good night sleep for once in her life. That is until she heard a phone going off. Turning over, she looked over at where her phone was lying. She didn't set an alarm, it was ringing.

Pushing up on her elbow, Phoebe reached for the night stand and sighed. She grabbed it and laid back down.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Phoebe," as the fog lifted from her brain, she realized that it was Matt calling. "Did I wake you?"

"Just a little. What can I do for you, Matt?"

"I need to talk to you. Do you think you can come over to Island Boi for a little bit. I already asked Heather and the other bar workers."

She pulled her phone away from her ear and squinted at the tiny top screen. Eight in the morning. Yeah, still too early.

"I think I can do that." She said. "What time?"

"Is nine okay for you?" He asked.

Blinking, she pushed the blankets back off her legs and looked around the room. "Yeah, I guess so. I might be a little late because I need to get ready."

"That's fine. I'll be waiting at the bar."

Flipping her phone closed she groaned and then stretched. It felt good to have a great night sleep. She spied the second bed in the room and found that it was empty. Considering that now she remembered everything that happened last night was coming back, she remembered the Jon was the one to let her sleep at his hotel, until he had to leave Florida. Then she would go back to sleeping at the shelter. She hoped Jon wouldn't make a big deal out of it.

But that night, Jon hadn't stayed in the room. He had left soon after they got in, leaving Phoebe to change into a pair of his shorts and one of his performance tank tops. The cloths were way too big for her, the shorts that dwarfed her body, threatening to fall down at the littlest friction pushed on them and she had to wear a bra because the top sagged down on her chest. No sooner had she changed when he left, Pheobe fell asleep. After fighting with the numerous thoughts running around in her head.

Pulling open her backpack, Phoebe set to work brushing her hair out. She thought about putting it up in a ponytail or leaving it down as she looked at the mirror in the room. The only thing she ever fretted over was her hair. Makeup was only useful if she needed it to impress people, but even that was little to none. She hummed to herself as she pulled her hair up and while the hair tie was in her mouth.

The door to the room opened and she cast a glance at who had a key card. It was Jon, his hair a mess, his cloths frumpy and what looked like lipstick on his cheek.

"Morning, Sunshine." She said going back to her hair, twisting it up and putting two chopsticks in it to hold the look in place.

"Where the hell are you going?" He asked as he walked towards her. No not walked, stalked.

"Matt called, he wants a bartender meeting this morning at nine." She turned back to her backpack that was now sitting on her bed. "I'm getting ready to go." She pulled a slightly rumpled shirt out of her backpack then pulled off her tank top. She turned so that her back was to Jon and then slipped the shirt on without him really seeing anything.

"What's with the scars, Rapunzel?" He asked. Some were bigger than the others, in his state of mind she thought that he didn't see them. Apparently not.

"Doors in my life that closed." She responded turning to him. "Well, see you around, tough guy. I have to get going."  
He caught her elbow softly, causing her to look at him.

In most movies, even in the books she sometimes read, this was where the man launches himself at the girl and they make passionate love in the middle of the large bed in the room. Nope, not in Phoebe's life. This was when she pulled her arm from him when Jon didn't say anything.

"Yes, Jon?" She asked.

"I'll take you to Island Boi. I have nothing going on today."

She didn't say anything, just watched Jon grab some stuff from a suitcase and then walk into the bathroom shutting the door behind him. She knew that she was either going to kick herself in the butt for it or whatever, but Jon was a great looking guy. Nothing like the man she had been with before moving to Pensacola.

Her dream was to succeed in the bar industry. To her, she was too young to get wrapped up in a romance of any sort. After her last relationship it was enough to swear off men for a lifetime, and that's what she was aiming for.

She had her backpack packed when Jon exited the bathroom. He was dressed like he usually was. Jeans, boots, a graphic t-shirt and his hair tossed about over his forehead. He looked a little bit more refreshed, not longer did he have lipstick prints on his face and neck.

"Ready, tough guy?" She asked picking up her backpack.

He gave her a cocky grin, one that Phoebe was sure he was famous for. Phoebe was not going to ask him where he had gone to, though she had an idea of what it was about. And it wasn't the kind of thing she was interested in.

They left, Phoebe lugging her backpack everywhere she went.

"You're not going to say anything, are you?" She asked.

"About what? My disappearing act or you?"

"Me. About last night and what you know. It's not something that I want Matt to find out."

Jon made an indescribable sound, one that Phoebe didn't quite get. "Maybe you should. Maybe you should let them know that you don't have a home. What do you think, that he is going to fire you because you don't actually have a home."

"It's happened before. It's something I can't control. A lot of the people I have applied for hear that I'm homeless but they won't give me a chance. It's an all too familiar thing now a days when most of the homeless have a drug or drinking problem and can't afford even slum motel apartments."

"Please, for the love all that's holy, don't ever consider going into one of those, Rapunzel." He grabbed her arm slightly, making her look at him. "I don't want you living in one. I had to live in one when I was growing up. You'll stay with me until Monday Night, and that's final. You hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Jon." She said as they got to the elevator.

If she could get proper sleep, a bed to lay in, then maybe it wasn't all that bad.

* * *

Colby had stopped by Joe's house just to chat that Saturday. Joe answered the door with Malia on his hip.

"Looks like you have a growth there, Joe. Do you need to get it surgically removed?" Colby kidded as the little girl launched herself at Colby.

"Ha ha, thanks." Joe said as he stepped aside. "So what's going on today?"

"Nothing. Dropped by to see you for a minute. I was thinking of heading on over the Island Boi tonight to see the girls."

"Do you like Katrina and Candace?" Malia asked.

"Uh, I was talking about Phoebe and Heather, Kiddo. Your Uncle Matt is letting them work for him for a little bit." Colby answered putting the girl down.

"Can I meet them?" The young girl asked, looking at her dad this time.

Joe sighed. "You know what, sure why not. Go ask Mommy and we'll see about going over there. Matt did say something about a meeting with them though."

"Why?"

"Something about Phoebe and Heather not doing what they were told to do." Joe shrugged walking across the wooden floor.

Colby followed him. "Where's Jon?"

"Rochelle doesn't care for him being here. He was at Island Boi lst night, apparently he drove up from Miami after the shows and some interviews just to see them again."

"How much do you want to bet he's hurting in more ways than one?" Colby asked, hoping the man would understand what he was getting at.

And Joe could understand.

Joe knew that Jon seemed to take to women that were not floozies, ring rats. Heck he had Renee Young at his beck and call if there was some satisfaction that needed to be filled.

"Did Matt really call for a meeting at Island Boi?" Rochelle asked as she watched her husband and his friend walk into kitchen.

She was cleaning up breakfast, Malia was packing the books she had brought down, the books that she checked out from the school library.

"Yeah, he did. I know you don't want to be involved but he wants me to be there. Considering that there were bugs in the bottles."

"I can't believe that happened to you." She looked at him and then at Colby. "Did you drink too?"

"No, I decided to stick with water that day."

She sighed. "Good. I mean my sister and cousins aren't exactly bar worthy workers but I would think they would have some sense about work."

"Would you like to bring Malia with us, just to have a family outing afterward." Joe suggested, hoping she would go for it."

"That sounds nice, Joe. Do you want to spend time with Daddy today, Malia?" Rochelle asked.

"Yeah!" She was happy about that proposition.

So Colby tagged along with Joe, his wife and Malia.

* * *

It was still fairly early for a meeting, but Phoebe didn't care. She hoped that Matt didn't have a problem with her and her service to the bar. Jon had his rental so getting to the bar was fairly uneventful. Phoebe promised herself that she would not ask Jon about why he showed up looking like he had sleeping with a hooker. The red lipstick didn't match his skin properly.

Phoebe had to bite the inside of her lip when she realized what she had been thinking.

As they parking in the parking lot of Island Boi, another car pulled in. Phoebe was unbuckling when she saw the driver of the car get out. Through the passenger window she saw Joe get out of the car, his hair pulled back in a ponytail. He turned right to open the back passenger door, giving her full view of most of his tattooed arm. She felt her eyes traveling his muscles for a moment longer than she should have before seeing the gold band on his left hand.

"Idiot." She mumbled to herself.

Jon thankfully hadn't heard her, since he was getting out of the car. "Sup, Roman." He greeted his former team mate and then saw the other man that came with them. "What brings you by, Colby?"

"Probably the same reason you're here." He replied.

"Yeah, one of them is sitting in the front seat right now." She could hear the sass in Jon's voice, like he was trying to not smile.

Joe and a little girl that Phoebe assumed walked by the car. This gave her a chance to get out, not sure if she should drag her backpack along with her or not. She would get it later, Phoebe decided as she got out of the car and closed it. She looked over the roof the other car, she smiled and waved at Colby as he was looking at her.

"Hi, again, Colby." She distinctly saw Joe turn around as he was escorting a dark skinned woman and a little girl towards the bar. "How are you?"

"I'm doing great. Tired but great. Are you going to be at the bar for Monday night? Jon's invited a lot of the roster to come by, even some of his NXT buddies."

"I am." She responded. "Why? Is it going to be a large crowd?"

"A lot of the guys, and some of the women, like to drink like elephants. Some are nearly the size of them. Big Show for one." Jon walked around the front of his car and waited for her.

"I don't know who you're talking about." She stated flatly as she walked towards the sidewalk out in front of the restaurant. "Hi, Joe. Darn things, stabbing me in the head." She pulled at the chopsticks keeping her hair in a bun, letting her hair fall out. "Sorry about that, I thought I could go for an Asian look today. Unfortunately, I'm no Mulan. Hi, I'm Phoebe Durwin." She extended her hand towards the woman that was looking at her with raised eyebrows. "I'm one of the temps that Matt hired."

"Oh, wow, you're pretty." Rochelle said, shaking her hand respectfully. "This is," she started.

"You're Princess Malia, right?" Phoebe finished for her mother. "Well, I may be called Phoebe but Jon likes calling me Rapunzel. Either or will work just fine, sweetie." She held her hand out to the little girl, who promptly hid behind Joe's leg.

"Malia," Joe chided his daughter.

"I know I'm ugly but do I look like a witch?" Phoebe stood straighter and then looked at the husband and wife. "Sorry, I think I broke your daughter."

She saw Joe trying not to laugh, as he rubbed Malia's shoulder. "She's not used to strangers too much."

"Still sorry. I try to impress everyone I meet right off the bat. Guess I've overdone it, again."

"Worked like a charm on me, Rapunzel." She glanced at Jon as he held the door open. "Ladies first."

"Why thank you." Colby said scooting through the door, sticking his tongue out at the slightly older man.

"Is she the only kid around here?" Phoebe asked Joe.

"Unfortunately, not really." He replied as they headed into the bar area.

Heather was already in the bar, standing at the said bar washing down the low bar. When she saw Phoebe walk in with Jon and Joe, and the woman and the little girl she smiled respectfully. "Hey, Phoebe. How was your night?"

"Some Neanderthal decided to pull my hair when Jon and I went to that late night coffee shop. Other than that, okay." She cast a glance at the sandy haired guy as he went to his usual spot at the bar. "I think we need to clean the taps and the drain so that what it attract bugs." She said, a vain attempt to talk normal as Joe sat his wife and daughter down at one of the booth seats.

There were raised voices coming from somewhere in the attached building next door.

"I don't care!" Matt's voice was raised.

Everyone turned when Matt came out of the restaurant door, it bouncing off the wall with the impact he had with it.

"I'm telling you, Matt, two white girls don't fit with the theme of this place." Kathy responded

Heather and Phoebe looked at each other, Jon stared at Kathy, Rochelle was gaping at her sister as well and Joe had no clue what was going on.

"Why is being white bad?" The little girl asked, tugging on Joe's shirt. He quietly hushed her.

"So all of this is all about race?" Joe's brother asked.

"No, of course not, Matt. It's…" That's when the woman noticed everyone in the room. "Um, Rochelle, what are you doing here?"

"I came to spend time with my husband and daughter but I'm watching you dig your own grave." She responded flatly.

"Matt, look. They don't fit in here. They don't follow orders, they don't listen to anything I say."

"I've read the books from when they worked here last night. I saw how much they pulled in on yours and your cousins shifts. In one night they brought in more cash than you three have done in a week. So whatever they did they are doing it right."

To have someone praise her for a job well done, though not to her face, Phoebe felt happy with what Matt said. She cast a ghost of a smile at Heather before heading towards the taps to clean the heads, so that gunk and mildew didn't collect there.

This was going to be one heck of a meeting, Phoebe decided as she pulled out the tap heads to the beer dispensers.

Joe watched the heated exchange between Kathy and Matt. Every once in a while he would look at Heather and Phoebe, who were trying their damnedest to stay out of the conversation. They were busy trying to look like they were doing work. He was grateful that neither Jon or Colby were trying to get involved in a conversation with them.

He couldn't help but stare at Phoebe as she worked. She wore her usual work cloths, the tank top and the short jean shorts. Her loose ponytail curtained out behind her and would flair out every once in a while as she turned to do something. Joe tilted his head as she whispered something in Heather's ear, making a motioned towards the two men at the bar and then they started putting ice in two glasses and then filled them with what looked like water.

"They don't follow orders, Matt." Kathy finally declared for the umpteenth time in the conversation.

Matt turned to both girls. "Did you not follow orders?"

"We tried but sometimes when you have regulars that like certain bartenders, it's hard to please everyone." Phoebe said putting a glass down in front of Colby while Heather did the same for Colby.

Joe looked at Kathy and her cousins, gauging what they were thinking. Apparently they didn't like the answer because all three had their arms crossed over their small tops.

"Explain." Matt said, crossing his own arms, watching the two temps.

"You hired us as bartenders, not bar backs." Phoebe elaborated, wiping up her mess that she apparently made.

"What are bar backs?" Candace asked. Her question seemed logical since she probably didn't have a lick of bar training behind her.

"Basically it is like being bartenders in training. They help out in the rush of things. Like getting more glasses, filling the ice bins, taking dirty glasses and cleaning them. Helping to mix the drinks if it is really bad. But I'm fully certified, and Heather has shown progress since she and I started working together. Over pouering has gone down in the last couple of days, so you're not losing profit through the drinks." Phoebe answered.

"So she told you to be bar backs?" He asked the two temps.

"Yes, but apparently a regular really liked us." Heather spoke up, stepping to Phoebe's side, casting a quick glance at Jon in the process but it wasn't at all that obvious. "And when he got irate Phoebe defused the situation. She was just going serve him but the various groups of women that were there saw her preparing his drink and decided to have her make the drinks."

Matt looked at the two temps and then at his existing bartenders. "Maybe I should reconsider just giving you two the jobs." He said.

Joe shook his head, thinking that Matt was talking about Phoebe and Heather. He caught Jon and Colby looking at each other briefly before keeping their eyes on the two girls. Even Phoebe and Heather looked like they were about ready to walk on out at any minute that Matt decided to fire them. If that were the case.

"Look, with Raw coming through on Monday, I want you two to be there to help with the rush. From the sounds of things you two are fast and are efficient with what you do." Matt told Phoebe and Heather. "And I did promise you a week. You have until this Thursday. But there will be a family gathering coming on Thursday night, adults only I'm afraid." He said that for Rochelle's benefit. "Do you think things can get settled by then?"

"I want to prove that I have what you need for this place. I really do, but I'm not sure if your other staff members want us here." Phoebe was brave enough is saying so.

"Well, tell you what, then. I give you full reign of the bar. You run it." Matt said.

"What?" Kathy, Candace and Katrina said together, sounding like three off key backup singers.

"I'm going to see if Phoebe can run the bar better than you, Kathy. From now until Thursday, you have to do everything that Phoebe tells you to do. She's the bar manager and I will make sure that everything is going well. I'll set up security cameras, I've been meaning to do that but I've had other things going on. I want to see for myself that everything is running right around here."

Wow, that was a change.

Joe found himself smiling over at Phoebe, only to catch Rochelle looking at him.

"Don't be rude to them, Joe." She told him.

It was kind of hard not to, they were the ones trying to seduce him under her nose and still feed her bull shit. But at least the three of them got put back into their places as Jon and Colby congratulated the long haired beauty in her accomplishment.

Wait, Joe thought. Did he just admit that? What the hell is wrong with me, he wondered as he turned his attention back to the real princess of his life.

* * *

**Wow,** **I didn't think this chapter would be so long. I wasn't attempting for that to happen. I have heard that there isn't enough romance between Joe and the OC, but I have a plot to work with and it is going to come around eventually. I promise you it will happen, but it's going to take the long road to get there.**

** Anyway, I hope you guys liked it. It may be a while until my next update- a couple of days or so. Thanks for reading, commenting and reviewing.**


	8. Chapter 8

When the meeting had ended, Phoebe was glad. But prepping the bar was something she knew had to be done.

"I can hand scrub for you." Heather offered. "We'll alternate on mopping days."

"Why don't you let Kathy, Katrina and Candace do the cleaning?" Jon suggested, sending a sneer in the direction of where Rochelle's sister and cousins were standing. "I mean they have to take orders from you now."

"You did say being a bar manager was something you wanted to do, it is a step in the direction to your dream of owning your own bar." Colby added with satisfaction.

"Okay, Heather mop the floor, you'll have to hand scrub around the bottom of the bar though. I have to see about getting more bitters and fresh fruit in here by tonight anyway." Phoebe said walking away from the bar and headed over towards the three relatives were skulking. "I know you hate me, I know you really don't want me here but I need you guys to help with the bar. The beer trap needs to be cleaned, there are minor things like covering the bottles on the back shelf and I need to find out about getting some bitters and fresh fruit in here."

"Why fruit?" Katrina asked.

"Cocktails aren't supposed to be strong with mostly liquor. It's layered tastefully. It's a sensual thing when it's topped with fresh fruits." She explained in the best way possible for them. "I'll check on the temperatures of the kegs later."

"Why? I never had to do it." Kathy said snidely.

"Because beer goes bad, and if that happens then it will make people sick. It doesn't taste good at all when the temperature is above thirty nine degrees. I don't want the health inspector coming in here and shutting the place down because of neglectful workers. So could you please do those things for me."  
"Whatever."

Translation: We're not going to do a damn thing.

"It's your jobs. If you don't work you don't get paid. And that attitude really is a downer. Life isn't easy, you can't just go in expecting to be great at something. You have to work for it. So may I suggest you work on that attitude while I'm gone or just leave. I'm sure I can find a better bartender."

Katrina made a noise before saying something. "White trash. Ghetto bitch."

Phoebe blinked slowly. "Don't speak like that with a kid nearby."

"I don't give a fuck." Kathy added to it.

"You know what, managers have the right to hire and then fire. But I'm doing Matt a favor trying to prove that this bar can succeed. But if you cannot take directions then you can leave. It's obvious that you are very good at doing nothing. I know of a few places that wouldn't mind bartenders coming in here to do pro bono work."

She heard Jon snickering, she didn't need to look at him to know he was laughing into his folded arms on the bar.

"Fine." Kathy stalked to the door, but stopped and turned around. "Aren't you two coming?"

Candace looked towards the bar. It was probably her only chance to get close to Jon ever again. "Sorry, Kath, but I don't want to loose this job. It was a pain in the ass to get it in the first place."

Katrina looked conflicted, to go with her cousin or stay with her sister. Phoebe didn't care. Kathy gave the what- the- hell- are- you- waiting- for- look.

"Sorry, but I can't afford to loose this job." Katrina said.

So close to loosing one of the three twits, Kathy heaved a sigh. "Fine, what do you want us to do, Rapunzel."  
Ignoring the snide remark, Phoebe had the first thing on her mind.

"Go apologize to Rochelle, for speaking like that in front of hers and Joe's daughter. There was really no need for that blatant disrespect, even to your own niece and little cousin." She pointed to the booth.

That was when she caught the near mortified look on Joe's face for the first time. The guy made looking shock look absolutely adorable. He looked like a fuzzy dog looking like he just heard the weirdest sound in his life. Rochelle was standing with a more pissed off look, arms crossed under her chest and all the while Malia was looking at Phoebe with a matching expression like her father's. That was kind of cute, actually.

"Um, sorry, Chelle." Katrina approached the woman first. "You know, for cussing in front of Malia. I'll try better next time."

"Yeah, same here." Candace quickly looked at Jon, who seemed to be looking at only Phoebe at this time. "I didn't mean to be a, uh, I don't know what to say. But I really am sorry."

Kathy looked like she was having a hard time trying to not say something against Phoebe.

"Sorry, sis." She managed to get out, while giving Phoebe a side glare. "For being a witch, you know."

"Okay. Thanks for apologizing." Rochelle responded, glancing at Phoebe who nodded. "Maybe you should go to work. I want to spend some time with Malia and Joe today."

"If you don't mind, Rochelle but could I prepare a kid friendly drink for Malia." Phoebe asked Joe's wife. "And did you both want some water?"

"No, we're fine. And I'm sure Malia wouldn't mind trying something new." Joe said, smiling a bit which just made her knees knock together involuntarily.

"Great, I'll be right back with it."

Really, she needed to talk to Matt about opening the kitchen. It would be a great thing to open. It would move Candace and Katrina from behind the bar and since they did like talking to people. Kathy, Phoebe wasn't even sure what she would be good at. But that would be for later time. At that moment it was evident that something needed to be done about getting the bar ready for the night that was coming.

Finding the bitters in the back to restock the bar, Phoebe set to work making something she hoped would make the little girl like her a little more. Grabbing the supplies that she needed, she went back to the bar.

"Hey, Heather, could you grab me a shaker glass, two glasses, one of the little umbrellas and put soda water in one of those glasses with ice." Phoebe said as she put the bitters down on the counter.

"Sure. Why?"

"Making something with this syrup. A proper mixologist knows how to make more than just cocktails. Sometimes you get people asking for special sodas that are only made from scratch. And it is healthier than regular soda someone would buy at the store." She mentioned smiling at Jon and Colby as they sipped on their water with lemon slices in them.

* * *

From the corner of his eye, Joe had spied Phoebe heading over to the booth that he, Rochelle and Malia were sitting at. She had a large serving tray with her, with cups of ice, some sort of liquids and Malia ducked down in the booth when Phoebe set the tray on the end of table.

"Hi, ma'am. I was wondering would Malia like a sample of my personal soda water I call the vegan vampire bat?" She asked politely looking at Rochelle.

"Um, sure. Why not?" Rochelle didn't sound so thrilled with that name.

"Bats are gross. Just like the rats Aunt Kathy and Aunt D talk about that Daddy works with." Malia said softly, her head slightly hiding behind Joe's arm.

"Okay, then you tell me what it should be called after I make it for you, okay?"

The drink that she was mixing required one of the cocktail ice shakers, one of the two ice filled glasses and some sort of syrup and the soda water in one of the cups. Like a juggling act, after pouring the syrup into the soda water glass, the metal ice shaker spun around in her hand, flew over her shoulder and using her left hand pressed it down on top of the cup of ice and mixture.

"I learned that if you shake a drink, it is like putting on a show. Rock it this way," she tilted one way while shaking it. "Tilt it the other way, then do something like this," with the cups stuck together she barrel rolled them over one arm grasping it in her hand. "Pop the top." She pulled the cup from the metal shaker, placing it down on the tray and then strained the contents of the shaker into the glass with the ice. "Top with an umbrella and walla, nice healthy drink. Here, try it." Phoebe said putting a straw in it and handing it over to Malia.

Joe watched his daughter take the drink from her and hesitantly sipped on it. The smile that lit up her face was one that he had only seen when he surprised her when coming home early from a trip. It was that same kind of face that she had as she looked at Phoebe, who also seemed to smile.

"This is really good." Malia said.

"What do you say, Lia?" Rochelle looking pointedly at her daughter.

"Thank you, um, Rapunzel."

"You're very welcome sweetie." Phoebe curtsied at her. "Not to rush you guys out, but why not after Malia is done with her drink, you three should go out and spend family time together. We'll be stuck in the bar all day, getting it ready for the evening rush."

Rochelle nodded. "That's what we were planning on doing today. Right, Joe?"

Joe hadn't heard a thing his wife said, he couldn't help looking at Phoebe. That is until he felt a sharp kick in his shin from under the table.

"Hey, what's with the knee jerks?" He asked.

"You weren't listening to me, again, Joe." She scowled at him.

Phoebe apparently didn't pay much attention to that as she gathered up the things that she had brought over and went to go do something with them. She headed to the kitchen and came back out with a case of cleaned glasses. She said something to Heather and Candace as they were behind the bar. Katrina was sweeping up around some of the booths and the tables in the back wall of the bar. Kathy, she was in the kitchen cleaning, something. Joe couldn't see it.

"Um, Rapunzel?" Malia spoke up as Phoebe walked by.

"Yeah, sweetie?" She stopped, turned and looked at the little girl.

"Do you know math?" Malia hid shyly against Joe's arm.

"Sure I do. Why? Do you need help?"

"Um, no. Not really." She changed her mind it seemed.

Joe couldn't help but watch Malia and Phoebe together. She was just so nice to the little girl. Maybe it would be a change for everyone if Phoebe stuck around.

He knew it would be difficult for him.

* * *

It seemed strange to be working, actual working, with Kathy, Katrina and Candace.

"Hey, we're going to spend the day together." Joe said walking up to the bar to talk to Colby and Jon. "Mind taxiing Colby back to my place to pick up his rental?"

"Yeah, sure, don't bother me none." Jon replied. "You going to be here all day, Rapunzel?" He asked her. "What about you, Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Uh yeah, I am." She fiddled with the rag in her hand slightly, looking at Jon slightly.

Phoebe instantly knew that look. It was a look of admiration. Jon wasn't at all bad looking, in her time with him he was a flirty kind of guy, liked and enjoyed whatever caught his interest to the fullest. Though there were some draw backs, especially when it was obvious he had been interested in her. So maybe to get the weird feelings off her back she could point those two in the direction.

She had to stop doing what she was doing when Joe slapped the bar with his left hand slightly, letting it rest there in front of her face almost. "Keep this place running, Phoebe." He said as she cast a glance at him.

With a smile she nodded. "I'll try my hardest." She said.

Really, life sucked. She looked at his hand, the one with the gold band on his ring finger. It just reminded her of what she couldn't have. And she really didn't want Jon.

"Heather, keep these guys entertained, will you?" Phoebe said soon after Joe had left with his wife and daughter.

"Sure, why? What's up?"

Phoebe held up a list of bottles. "These are the top sellers, I need to go pick them up before we run out. The rush will be in the evening and getting new supplies require a lot of leg work."

"I can go with you." Jon supplied.

"How about you flirt with Heather for a while?" She suggested. "I don't want to be sidetracked. I need to be focused on what needs to be done around here. How about you help her clean the light fixtures in the back over there." She pointed to the hanging lights near the back booths. "That way, we can kick this dust issue in the butt."

"Sure." He smiled at her and then looked back at Heather. "Well, go get the stuff, Shortcake." He said.

Phoebe went to go find Matt, who was the one that would be giving her the money for the purchases that needed to be made. She also wanted to talk to him about serving food for the bar when it was open at night.

Matt was in his office in the restaurant. He seemed to be talking to people on the phone and from what Phoebe could hear was he was setting up an appointment to put in some security cameras. Good that was something that she would like to have, just to prove that she was doing everything in her power to work right. As he was talking he motioned for her to come in before writing something down and then ending the call.

"Hey, how is everything going so far?" He asked, closing his eyes and lightly rubbing his chest.

"Okay, for the most part. I have Kathy, Candace and Katrina working probably for the first time since they've worked here. I wrangled Jon in helping Heather clean the ever growing dust problem. But I came by to talk to you. First, I have a list of the most popular bottles that seems to be going around here." She handed him the list. "We're running low on them."

He glanced at them and then nodded. "Okay. I can afford these. Kahlua seems to be popular." Matt said looking at the bottle list.

"For men like Jon, whiskey and whatnot, especially when tropical themed bars are famous for women. If you can get the women in, single women, the single men like to follow. And that's where I wanted to talk to you about. Do you have any cooks that are willing to work in that unused kitchen in the bar?"

"I was actually approached by one of the part time cooks asking for another shift. She works four hours a day but has been wanting to get more hours in. Let me talk to her about working the bar at nights, maybe she'll want to do that."

"We will need more than one cook in the kitchen. And I'm thinking about putting Katrina and Candace as servers since they seem to prefer to work that angle than work the bar."

"You want to make all these changes?" Again Matt was rubbing his chest slightly.

Phoebe shrugged. "You want this place to succeed, right?"

"Yeah, I do. But…it's a lot of work." He sighed, she wasn't sure if it was from having to talk about changes or what was going on in his chest.

"The bar business is a lot of work, Matt. And are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I really hope I made the right decision in putting you in a GM position so soon after trying you as a temp."

"The only way you can be sure you made the right choice is watching me work." She took the check for the bottles that she needed to stock up the bar for over the weekend and then left. Then she came back in. "Hey, Matt, if you're hurting you should take it easy for a while. Have your GMs work the restaurant and bar that can make sure everything is in working order. Shouldn't you be home with your family?"

She left him with that question before finally walking out.

* * *

**I don't know about this chapter. Although it was needed, it just felt a little blah for my taste. Still a long way to go with this so I am glad you guys are keeping up with it. Thanks for reading, everyone.**


	9. Chapter 9

Island Boi was steadily becoming a new place, even if the place hadn't changed physically. It was cleaner and the changes were mainly with the people working there especially now that Heather and Phoebe were mainly behind the bar. The only things that hadn't changed much were the three women, though one of them still had issues with Phoebe.

As Monday afternoon rolled around Phoebe had been working at Island Boi Bar, as she was starting to call it, for the last three nights. Maybe she would tell Matt to make a second sign for it, to make it different from the restaurant or let people know that it was a part of the restaurant. There were still other things that Phoebe needed to talk to Matt about, considering that the changes already made was starting to get more and more people to come by at night.

Now as Monday rolled around, with a while before those WWE performers were supposed to be there, Phoebe headed in to Island Boi, her backpack slung over her shoulder.

As she reached for the door, only to find another hand reaching for it at the same time. The hand belonged to a man that had a sleeve of tattoos that ran up his caramel skin. Phoebe's eye traveled up the well muscled arm and found herself staring at a man that was aged real well for someone older than her.

"Wow." She mumbled.

"Hi." He said, standing extremely tall over her. "I'm Dwayne Johnson. You're that Phoebe woman that everyone seems to be talking about around here."

"Dwayne Johnson? Oh, Matt mentioned you during my job interview. I think he wanted to know if I knew the famous people he's related to." She said adjusting her backpack on her shoulders. "But yes, I'm Phoebe Durwin."

He held the door open. "Tonight after the show most of the Raw roster is coming here. This place is usually hopping by the time ten o'clock rolls around."

"Do the people Joe and Jon and Colby work with like this place?"

"Nope," Jon said from the table he had been sitting at.

How did she not see him? He was sitting at the table closest to the door, leaning back like he didn't have a care in the world. Wearing jeans, a Las Vegas shirt and a brown leather jacket, he looked like he was ready to get down and dirty at a dive bar. Island Boi Bar was certainly the type of place he would be going to after a hard night on the job. He wasn't alone, sitting next to him was Joe, nursing what looked like a glass of ice water.

Phoebe shook her head. "Jon, do you like stalking me?"

"Only because I like you." He responded standing up with his beer in his hand. "Colby's flirting with Heather at the bar and I got bored. Joe is stopping by soon for a drink before heading home to his girls."

She could only nod at his statement, hating herself for thinking otherwise of Joe at that moment. Now seeing him looking at her, much as he had during the time of the staff meeting. His left hand was resting on his muscular thigh, his right hand around the glass that was resting on the table.

Dwayne spoke up. "Speaking of family, there is a family gathering happening soon here at the bar. It's only for those of us here in Florida, for the adults of course. That's about half of the family at least."

"You're from a big family?" Phoebe couldn't help but feel like she had asked the world's dumbest question.

"Yeah, aren't you?" He asked in return as Jon gulped down the rest of his beer.

"No, I'm not. Family is the reason why I left for Florida in the first place." She shrugged. "Let me go get ready for tonight, I've got to put my stuff up and get the bar ready. From the looks of things, this is the calm before the storm."

Sure Jon was there, now Dwayne and so was Colby and Joe but there were about three other men that looked like they were wrestlers but Katrina and Candace were too busy with flirting with them.

"Ignore them. They'll be out of a job if they keep that up." Jon told Phoebe as he draped an arm around her shoulders. "Say, let's go out."

"Wanna run that back again, hot stuff?" She looked at him.

No one once had really been interested in her. They always went to the skinny girls, girls like the ones that she worked with, girls like Heather. She didn't have a good rack, in her opinion, she was roundish in body type. Chunky was how people described her. There was no way she was going to get into a bikini without loosing her dignity. But then there was Jon Good, who seemed to flirt with her at every possible moment that he was in town, at the bar or whatever.

"I said," he dipped his head down towards her, his hair falling in front of his odd shade of blue eyes, "Let's go out. Just you, me, Heather and Colby, a double date. After tonight, you seem to need a chance to wind down and have some fun. You've been working too hard."

"Look, Jon," she attempted to push him off of her but he wasn't budging.

Even Dwayne, bald man with Hawaiian tattoos and muscles that Adonis himself wished he had, was smirking at her flustered state. And Jon, he seemed to like putting her on the spot when those times were not the best of times to do so. Joe just seemed almost indifferent, as she cast a quick glance in his direction before looking back at Jon.

"Fine, yes, after tonight, at two o'clock in the gosh darn morning, I'll go with you. Happy?" Phoebe asked, trying to pull her braid out from under Jon's muscled arm. "And will you get off my hair; you're hurting my neck."

That is when the wrestler did the one thing that shocked the crap out of her. Phoebe had seen Candace and Katrina looking over at her, seeing what she was doing with Dwayne and Jon when Jon leaned down, lifted her chin up and kissed her. Right smack dab on the lips.

Which resulted in Jon getting pushed back and a small fist connecting with the side of his jaw.

"Don't you ever, ever do that again!" Phoebe yelled, shoving Jon in his chest with both her hands. "If you ever do that again I will smash something over your head. You may like pain, you may get off on having some dude punch your face in, but you will never do that to me again, Jon Good. Do you understand me?"

Now Dwayne was staring at her like she had two heads on her shoulder. Joe was just as shocked as his cousin, but he hadn't said two words about it. She didn't give anyone a chance to talk, she stalked off towards the doors that led into the restaurant letting the door swing behind her.

Oh she was beyond pissed. Flirting was not all that bad of a thing to do, it was what she knew how to. Being friendly yes, but to have a man she barely knew just out right kiss her in front of other people, no that was where she drew the line. That was not how she lived.

Phoebe was still breathing hard by the time she got back to the worker's locker room. She shoved her backpack in the locker, pulled off her shirt and shoved that into the locker before slamming the door closed, then locking it. Her breathing was so erratic that it nearly felt like she was having a heart attack. No it wasn't a heart attack, not at twenty-one, no it was something all together different.

She was having a panic attack and she didn't know how to stop it.

There was a sink in the room so she went over there to splash water on her face, trying to shock her system into reloading her senses. She took several deep breaths and held each for a count of three before letting the breaths out.

"Phoebe?" She heard Heather speak up from behind her.

Glancing back, Phoebe looked away from her new friend. "Sorry, I'm just, I don't know. I can't explain what I am feeling right now."

"He scared you, didn't he?"

"Yes. I guess."

Heather walked up to the long haired woman. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Barely managing to get a shrug, Heather watched Phoebe grab the sink and leaned on it, her head lowered. Her braid was the only thing that Heather could see from where she stood behind Phoebe.

"My family is the reason why I moved down here. It's the reason why I have nothing to my name. I left a nightmare behind me just so that I could make the choice to live and not die in that rat hole of a life. Everyone told me that I would never be successful."

"Do you want to prove them wrong?"

"I've proved them wrong by coming down here. I've proved myself capable of training to be a mixologist, to succeed in this would prove to them that I am not the nothing they thought I was."

"So, what happened with Jon?"

"Bad memories, new scars that I don't want to open up again. He freaked me out. I guess he thought that I would just be like any other girl and let him do that. But I'm not. I'm not like the women he's surrounded by. At least that's what I've heard about the WWE."

Reaching up, Phoebe wiped the tears away.

"I refuse to get involved in a relationship. It's not my scene anymore. I guess I'll have to explain that to him."

"Yeah, you might. But you know, if you don't want to go out on this double date thing, I will understand."

"And leave you with two men who we barely know." Phoebe turned around and looked at her. "We stick together, Heather. That's what girlfriends are for. We watch each other's backs."

"Okay. And I promise that tonight we're going to be the best damn bartenders that ever served this place. Together." Heather held up a fist to Phoebe, who bumped it with hers.

"Come on, let's go make history."

Drying to last of her tears, Phoebe straightened her back and then headed out of the room with her best friend and reinforcer.

* * *

Jon felt like an idiot. He didn't know why but he did. Sure he liked Phoebe, and Heather for that matter, but he found out too late that he had crossed the line with the Rapunzel blond.

And he thought redheads were hot tempered.

"Dude, that was such a screwed up thing to do." Colby said as he, Joe and Dwayne joined Jon at the empty bar.

"Yeah, I found that out the hard way. You know, for as little as she is, Phoebe packs a punch." Jon remarked rubbing his slightly red cheekbone.

Dwayne laughed. "I can see that. Where did you say she's from? New York? If that's true, then yeah, I can believe she punched you like a guy. You don't mess with New York women."

"Speaking from experience, Cuz?" A new male said.

The door to the bar side of Island Boi opened up as more and more WWE superstars from the Raw show started appearing. His cousins, The Usos along with Jonathan's wife Trinity, were approaching the two former Shield members and the WWE Sell out. Jimmy and Jey Uso looked different wearing street cloths, especially since it had been a while since Dwayne had seen his cousins, after the Royal Rumble at least.

"No, and do you two even know what we're talking about?" Dwayne asked.

"Chicks. Single men usually talk about women they are interested in." Trinity said sitting between the two Jons. "So, who are you two talking about?"

"The temp that punch me in the jaw. Matt hired two temporary female bartender, great at what they do. I just made a fool of myself and did something stupid. You know, the normal thing I like doing."

"Since when are you not a fool?" Joe asked, smirking at his friend, who simply flipped him off.

"Are you going to apologize?" She asked the blond man.

"Yeah." He mumbled seeing the swinging door open, and seeing Rapunzel and Strawberry Shortcake walk through.\

"That's her; that's Rapunzel. I mean Phoebe Durwin. Great right hook on her, too."

Before he could even stand, Phoebe approached him. "Jon, here." She handed him an ice pack. "That's for your face. And I wanted to say I'm sorry, for blowing up at you like that."

"There's nothing to apologize about, sweetness. I was in the wrong."

"Regardless who was right or who was wrong, I still need to say sorry about punching you. I overreacted, which is against my character." She slid the ice pack over to him. "And I'm comping four shots for you, to ease the sting a little bit."

"If it's your Buttery Nipples and duck farts, then I'm all in." He grinned at her as he pressed the ice pack to the side of his face.

"Her what now?" Joshua asked.

"Oh boy," Joe groaned when flashes of their meeting with Phoebe in the first place.

"Buttery Nipples and Duck Farts are some classic shooters that I made for him when I was trying out for the bartender spot. I think I created a wrestling inspired Blue Hawaiian just for the fun of it and it's steadily becoming more popular. We can whip it up for you guys if you want us to. The place will be hopping soon and that means we'll be too busy to talk."

Trinity waved her off. "Even with all of us being here, this place is never busy. Candace and Katrina like taking their time getting drinks filled."

"Well, that's not how I work, ma'am. People want to come to a bar to drink, and they like to drink a lot. Some times one right after the other. Fast bartending is what I was trained to do. But Matt put me in charge of the bar."

"Matt put you in charge?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, there was a meeting of the bar staff and he changed the roles. He put me in charge of them. I've had them working here probably for the first time since they started working the bar. I mean really working."

The group looked at the three women who were still with the three men, whoever they were. Sure Katrina and Candace had been working but they still followed what Kathy was telling them to do. She had them working the weekend and everything was fine, they even watched the people from the security camera company put in the cameras.

Phoebe sighed. "Well, let me get some stuff straightened out and then I'll come back to help you guys with your orders. Actually, Heather, comp two nipples and two ducks for Jon while I'm gone, please."

"Sure." Heather smiled at her.

"Alright, we'll bite. We'll have those Blue Hawaiians you spoke about. What do you call them?"

"The Samoan Drop. All of you want it?" Phoebe asked as she walked around the side of the bar.

"No, I'm driving." Colby waved her off.

"I'll take my shooters, Rapunzel." Jon said, smiling as he adjusted the ice pack on his face.

"I'm Samoan, so sure. Give it to me." Dwayne said.

"All right. I'll get started on those when I get back." She responded as she walked over to the three relatives of Rochelle's.

Kathy was rubbing the brown haired man's forearm, leaning forward on the booth table so that he was getting a face full of her full breasts. Katrina and Candace were also trying to put the moves on the other two men, of course none of them were people Phoebe recognized.

"Hey, you three, I need to talk to you about something." She said interrupting the conversation.

"Now?"

"Yes, now. There's going to be a lot of people coming in and we need to work together. It's a stress test beyond what we've been having lately. I need you three to work your magic with the patrons."  
Candace stood up straighter, easily taller than Phoebe now. "What do you mean?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

"We need servers. We need people to take drinks to these booths. Heather and I will work the bar but we can't leave the bar so we need servers to help out. You'll be able to interact with them, be friendly and try your hardest to get the orders right. To help us, you can pour the beers from the tap, like how I showed you. It would be beneficial, especially with how this group of wrestlers and performers coming in."

Kathy sighed, rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Fine whatever."

But it was Katrina that spoke up. "You're going to let us serve the wrestlers?"

"Only for the ones that are sitting at the booths and tables." Phoebe nodded.

"What else do you need us to do?" Candace asked.

"You'll also have to serve the food that I have set up for the first time tonight. Two of the chefs from the restaurant have agreed to help out tonight, making shrimp kabobs and small trays. Smaller portions means more money spent meaning we'll get paid more in the long run. So can you do that? Set up these little menus on the tables and be courteous to the customers?" She handed over some fold out small standing menus she had made up in the back office.

Candace took the menus without question. "Sure. That would be cool. Come on, Kat, let's get the place ready. Sorry, gentlemen, we have work to do." She said as she turned back to the three men.

They didn't seem to mind as they looked that the menu that was given to them.

"You think you're so special, white trash." Kathy said once her cousins were away.

Oh, now she had every reason to hate Phoebe. The long haired woman looked at her, taking a respectful step back and glancing at the woman.

"White trash?"

"Yeah, I know all about you, Phoebe. You live in that hole in the wall shelter near here. Wonder what Matt will say when I tell him all about you."

Phoebe pursed her lips, trying to think of something to say in return. But really she couldn't. "If you plan on starting something just remember something," she gestured up to one of the posts that ran the length of the bar. "There are cameras around, and I'll make damn sure that Matt watches them if you pull some sick stunt tonight."

She turned and walked away. She had a lot of stuff to do as the night wore on. Sure there were already people there, but there was no way she was going to let this night turn into a disaster.

* * *

**Yeah, I'm actually kind of proud of this update.**

**Also a lot of thanks to Calwitch and others who have commented on my stories. It's people like you who make great comments that I start really thinking about different possibilities where my stories start to go and it makes me want to work harder at them. So again thanks for reading and leaving great comments. I really appreciate them.**


	10. Chapter 10

Island Boi was swamped. It wasn't just by the WWE superstars, Jon and Joe told Phoebe said that there were NXT performers and some of the others, kind of a larger gathering of street people. Apparently there was a call to all others, the place was packed with a sea of heads gathering in the small bar. There was a line going out the door.

Phoebe had no time to chat, they were asking for her signature Samoan Drops, some times coming back for another and another. Divas and wrestlers, beer was being handed out in bottles, cocktails served in a fast pace that served a reminder to Kathy, Candace and Katrina that this was not a social thing. This was a job.

This was a fun job that Phoebe adored. She interacted with these minor celebrities, these athletic men and women who were rooting for her and Heather. At one point in the night there was chanting going on between the two bartenders. Sure Candace and Katrina tried to do what they were doing, but they were failing miserably. So miserably that one of the divas told them that they were interfering with what was going on behind the bar. With no fault of their own, they probably were not expecting this rush as much as Phoebe and Heather did. Actually it was Kathy that was dropping the ball so much by trying to be a bartender.

"Kathy, we've got the bar." Phoebe said. "We could use a refill of the ice bin and some more glasses." Phoebe said as she crafted three drinks of different orders at the same time.

"I'm a GM bartender. I can do this." She responded. "I don't need some white trash telling me what to do."

Phoebe chose not to start a fight with Kathy at that moment. That wouldn't have been the best thing to do during a late night rush that still swamped the bar.

Twenty minutes later it was evident that some of the other customers didn't like Kathy being behind the bar.

"Can you like move? You're blocking the show." Phoebe heard one of the women entertainers ask as she was reaching for a new bottle of Kahlua while ringing up a tab that someone was paying for.

Phoebe didn't have time to really see Kathy walking away. In reality it was that big man, someone called him Big Show, who had ordered six shots and a large mug of beer.

"The taps are going to be running dry if he doesn't stop drinking like a camel." Phoebe said, which got a whole new wave of oohs going on from those that heard her.

"There's a big fat tip if you do run out." He called out.

It was non stop, no breaks, and Phoebe was thankful that she had wore tennis shoes but even then her feet were killing her.

"Fart, Fart, fart!" A group of men were chanting as they got their turn at the bar.

"Really?" Heather mumbled. "Toss me the Kahlua, I'm out over here."

"We're running out of glasses." Phoebe responded tossing the bottle at her friend. "Kathy! We need more glasses!" She called out to the bar manager.

No response.

"Kathy!" Phoebe yelled again.

There was no sign of Kathy.

"I don't know where my cousin is." Candace said as she was dropping off another tray of used glasses.

Phoebe went to grab for another glass but couldn't find one right away. There was a low amount of glasses, more towards the cocktail glasses used for the Blue Hawaiian. "Crap! We're running dry and the bar former manager just ditched us." Phoebe said as she was scrambling to find more glassware.

"I would help, Phoebe but I'm going for a food order." Candace said as she walked away from the bar.

She waved off the other woman. "That's not an issue, Candace. You're doing your job, that's all the help I can ask for. Actually could you check for more glasses while you're back there." She called out after the woman.

"Need help?" Dwayne asked, stepping into the fray.

"I sure hope they cleaned a batch of glasses, otherwise you may have to go to the restaurant and bring some over. Can you do that, Hon? We're running out of everything in here."

"I'll check the supply room also." He stood up and waded through the mass of about forty people that seemed to be coming back for more it seemed like every ten minutes. "Come on, Candace, let's go."

If Dwayne hadn't stepped up, who knew what would have happened. It was going on to midnight, most of the rush was gone. The large pitcher that had been left on the counter was filled with tips that was constantly being pushed down so that more could be put in there. And without any other bartendr, but Candace and Katrina in the servicing area, and with no Kathy there to help, it was just Phoebe and Heather doing most of the work.

"Got you girls some more glasses." Dwayne said as he walked through the swinging doors a tub of clean glasses.

"Put them down right here. There's no sense sorting through them right now. Who ordered the Lava Flow?" Phoebe asked putting the long stemmed glass up on the top bar.

As two o'clock came around, which seemed like minutes later to both of the hard working girls, it was time for Last Call. Phoebe couldn't have been more happy with that fact.

"All right everyone, we're the walking dead but we need our beauty sleep." Phoebe called out waving her arms to get everyone's attention. "It's last call, pay your tab and then I'm asking you to leave. We'll die in peace later."

Dwayne and his cousins were amongst the last to leave the bar, leaving Jon and Colby with the overwhelmed girls. The cooks were clearing out the kitchen, making sure that most of the cleaning was put to the side before the next day.

"I'm going to pass out in the corner." Phoebe said. "That was the worst condition I have ever dealt with here. Who knew so many entertainers could be so pushy."

Jon laughed. "They probably have a whole new reason to come here the next time the show comes through Florida."

"I hope that's not for a very long time." Heather stated, dropping her forehead down to the counter. "Hundreds of orders and we spent the last couple of hours filling them. I'm surprised I didn't drop the ball."

"You don't let friends drop, Heather." Phoebe patted her back. "I think I would have killed myself if you ditched me to those wolves."

"Thanks for the encouragement." Heather didn't sound sincere with that statement as she glanced at Phoebe through her hair.

"Did we at least do okay?" Candace asked, a little miffed that she and her sister were left out of the conversation.

"Honey, you have no idea how great you were today." Phoebe then groaned and lifted her head. "The orders were being banged out and I haven't heard one complaint about either of you two. I think I found your niche in this industry. You're great with people, there's no doubt in that."

"Thank you." Katrina sort of smiled. "I'm sorry about Kathy not being here."

"Do you know where she went?"

"Actually, no. We were scrambling to get the orders and picking up the dirty dishes to really know where she went to." Candace looked at Katrina who seemed to agree with her."

"Well we can't worry about that now. Come on, we still have to close up shop and we need to grab our crap from the back." That was when Phoebe slapped her forehead and groaned. "Crap."

"What?" Colby asked.

"Kathy, she's the one with the keys. She's the one that is supposed to lock up. Matt's not even here. I can try his phone but I don't think calling at two in the morning is a wise thing to do."

Just then the door opened, making the four of them glance up.

"Joe?" Jon asked.

* * *

It had been around one in the morning that Joe had gotten a call from his brother.

"I have the kids tonight. Kathy called saying that she had a family emergency and didn't leave the keys with Phoebe or Heather. Raw came by the bar tonight.

"Yeah, I know. I was there when most of them showed up, along with NXT."

"Can you take the extra set you have to them, please?" Matt asked.  
And like a good little brother, Joe agreed. Even though he was wearing his pajama pants and an old work out shirt, having to drive the ten minutes to get to Island Boi, Joe didn't argue.

"Joe?" He heard Jon ask as he entered the bar.

"Yeah, it's me. Matt has his kids tonight and couldn't bring the keys himself." He answered tossing the extra set over to Phoebe, who easily caught them. "He said that Kathy had a family emergency or something and forgot to give you her set."

"That's bullshit." Jon responded to that claim.

"What are you talking about?"

"It was just Phoebe and Heather at the bar. Those two were the ones that stuck with their jobs." He pointed to the two servers. "Candace and Katrina really has picked up the ball ever since that meeting. But Kathy blew it all off. And dude, the roster was chanting for them. I think half were rooting for Heather and the other half for Phoebe." Colby said.

Phoebe looked a little uncomfortable, especially when she saw Joe coming closer to her with a hard look on his face. Rochelle's two cousins actually looked pretty proud of themselves from what Joe saw of the two women.

"Did she really ditch you two?" Joe asked, standing mere five feet from Phoebe. "I mean ditch you four?"  
"I can't really say yes or no to that question. All I know is when we started running low on the bare essentials like certain liquors and even glassware, Kathy wasn't anywhere in sight. Most of the older people started leaving around midnight but a few younger ones hung around until last call. If it wasn't for your cousin Dwayne being here I think we would have asked people to hang on a minute so that I could go find more glasses." Looking at the keys in her hand she sighed. "I'm going to go get my stuff and then start locking up so we can leave. I'm sorry you had to come by…"

"I wasn't sleeping." Joe waved her off.

"Oh, okay." She glanced at Heather who nodded. "Come on, Heather, we need to get on the ball with this stuff. We could use the help, Candace and Katrina. Lock up the restaurant, make sure the kitchen staff is cleaning up…" she listed off the stuff that needed to be done as they turned from the men.

They headed out of there, leaving the three former Shield members standing in the empty bar.

"So they were great, right?" Joe asked.

"Along with Candace and Katrina, surprisingly." Jon said, stretching his arms over his head.  
"Oh, you should have been here. They owned the place. They ran it and engaged everyone. Phoebe even called Big Show a camel." Colby laughed at that weird conversation. "If this doesn't get them permanent jobs here, I may just go to where they do work."

"Sucks balls that Kathy had decided to ditch everything and everyone. She didn't attempt to help even Candace and Katrina." Jon rolled his eyes at the thought of those three ditching the two temporary bartenders.

"Watch it, Kathy is Rochelle's sister. I have to live with the nagging if she heard you say that."

"Still having bipolar issues with your marriage?" Jon asked.

Joe managed to roll his eyes, a common trait Jon liked giving to people that annoy him. But Jon was right. It just seemed like they get over one bump and then another was there. It was usually one fight after another, followed by sincere understanding and then right back to fighting.

"Yeah, something like that." Joe said.

"So what is your take on Heather and Phoebe?" Colby asked reaching for his phone as it dinged, telling him that there was a text message.

"I don't know. I don't actively seek them out, not like you two do."

"Heather is drop dead gorgeous but since working with Phoebe she's opened up. More confident with herself." Jon smirked.

"You want to do both of them, don't you?" Joe asked.

"Who wants to do what with who?" Phoebe asked walking in with her backpack over her shoulders.

Heather, Candace and Katrina were also following them, the kitchen cooks were heading on out waving to the three women on their way to the door. Joe couldn't help but notice that Phoebe's backpack looked full to the brim of stuff. She was twirling the keys around her finger as she looked at the three of them. Joe glanced at his two friends and saw that they were giving the two women matching smirks. Then he caught the red mark on the side of Jon's face.

"What the hell happened to your face, Jon?" Joe asked his friend.

"I punched him when he kissed me. I overreacted so I comped four shots for him as a way to say sorry." Phoebe spoke up before Jon could. "Let's go find somewhere to eat before we call today a night or I'm just going to pass out."

"I got food at my apartment. It's nearby and I don't mind a sleep over." Heather spoke up. "I don't really feel like going out after what happened here."

"I'll see you guys later. I have to get on home. Malia's school is having parent-teacher conferences and since I'm in town I really want to go." Joe said as he walked towards the door.

"Tell her Rapunzel and Strawberry Shortcake says hi." Phoebe said before covering her mouth in an attempt to cover the yawn.

He stopped and glanced behind himself, not sure why he would do that. But then he saw Phoebe, who was taking her hair out of the braided ponytail while laughing at something that Jon said. When was the last time he had been carefree like that? Eight years ago? Before he became a dad? When he wasn't seeing anyone?

That train left years ago, he told himself as he walked out of the bar letting the door clang shut behind him. He had other priorities going on. His life was with his girls, Rochelle and Malia.

Joe was getting in his car when he saw the lights turn off over the door of the bar. Jon, Colby who was resting his arm around Heather's shoulders walked out and then Phoebe was the last out. Her hair now free, ran to the backs of her thighs like a yellow curtain at a theater. She still wore those cut offs that Matt had all his employees wear but unlike Heather, Phoebe wore a red tank top. She had class to her, though not the kind to wear a dress or anything. Candace and Katrina said their polite goodbyes before walking over to the parking lot where their cars were parked. Joe didn't watch them for long, he lingered on his two friends escorting the two women with them down the street.

And that's when Joe realized, while running his hand over his goatee and then proceeding to pull his own hair in aggravation, he was having some weird thoughts about a woman he'd only met a handful of times. Sure she was attractive, and she had a unique look to herself and she was great with people. But Rochelle, that was who he loved.

Slamming his hands against the steering wheel, Joe growled before shoving the key into the ignition, turned on the car and then got out of there.

He promised himself that he wasn't going to look at Phoebe Durwin ever again.

* * *

**Sorry it took me a while to update, life got in the way. I started helping my mom in babysitting and the need to write kind of went down hill. I'm also having emotional problems, anxiety fits too. So writing has gone to the back burner. **

**Anyway, the next chapter I have to overhaul it, rewrite a part that doesn't fit in with the way the story is going. So it will be another couple of days for an update. **


	11. Chapter 11

The first thing Phoebe realized when she started waking up was the fact that her arms were numb. That only really happened if she was sleeping with her arms over her head. The second thing, there were two distinct heavy pressures on her biceps, pinning her to the world's most comfortable mattress, since she had been sleeping in one for the last couple of days.

Lifting her head up, Phoebe blinked and then looked around, trying to figure out why she wasn't sleeping on the bed in Jon's hotel room. That's when the memories of the busy night flooded back to her. Heather allowed her, Colby and Jon to come back to her small apartment so that they didn't have a far journey to their hotels. Not like Phoebe had a place to stay herself since Jon was making her crash with him at his hotel room. The sun was coming through the slightly open drapes of the living room window, which was what had woken Phoebe up in the first place.

Someone turned over on their side and draped an arm over her waist while pushing a scruffy and scratchy face into her neck.

Phoebe's eyes shot open and quickly looked down. Yep, she still had her cloths on. And the arm belonged to a well muscled man that had bushy brown and a section of blond hair.

"Colby," she mumbled.

He didn't respond. It was Jon, who was cuddling up really close to the upper part of her chest. He was close to copping a feel, and he seemed to be smiling.

"Morning, Rapunzel." He grinned at her.

"Get off my boob, Ambrose." She tried to take her arm out from under his large body.

"I'm not on your boob." He responded not even trying to move.

This was not the ideal morning she had anticipated on waking up to. Jon's unruly blond curls and then Colby's shaggy dog face pressed into the side of her neck as he continued to snore. Absently, as Phoebe bent her arm to get the feeling back in her hand she started playing with Colby's hair. She couldn't see what time it was, not that she wanted to know herself since she was stuck on her back with two very big babies cuddling with her.

The one thing that Phoebe was thankful for was that they all managed to fit sideways on the extremely large bed Heather owned. No one wanted to sleep on the pull out sofa and after the night before they all just somehow managed to fit on the bed. Man, woman, man and woman. Heather pinned herself against the headboard with her head pressed into Colby's back. Phoebe was the unfortunate one to have been stuck between Jon and Colby, earning this sort of wake up call.

"This is such a cute picture." She heard Heather say.

"I'd look at you but I have a limited amount of space to move at the moment." Then she smelled something. "Is that coffee?"

"Yeah, you want some?"

"Hell yeah!"

Using all the strength that she could muster, Phoebe pulled her arms free, resulting in Colby hitting his head on the bar that was at the head of the pull out. Jon didn't have a chance to catch the long haired blond as she rolled over him and onto the floor, padding over towards the small kitchen. The wonders of owning a studio apartment.

"I love you right now." Phoebe said heading into the kitchen nook.

"You like coffee?"

"I haven't had it in a few days. I was addicted to it before I moved down here." Phoebe said.

"How long can you go without coffee?" Jon asked sitting on the edge of the pull out.

Phoebe shrugged as she grabbed one of the clean mugs next to the sink. She liked Heather's studio apartment. It was small, a lot of white with a hodgpodge of different types of furniture. That would be her if she were to find an apartment.

"I try to get one in every morning so I can wake my butt up." Phoebe mumbled mostly to herself as she focused on mixing the creamer that was in the fridge and the sugar.

"Have you found a place yet?" Heather asked.

It took Phoebe a second to realize what Heather was asking. She had vaguely mentioned that she was looking for a new place but had not really gone into details as to what really was going on. Being homeless was a stain that Phoebe had to put behind her, and fast.

"No, not yet. There isn't much in the way of affordable places and with this being a temp job I don't think I have enough money saved up for the rent coming up."

Oh the sweet savory coffee. It soothed her throat as it trickled down to her stomach, making a warm feeling spread through her belly. How long had it been since she had given up on drinking coffee? Days? Jon didn't drink coffee, or he didn't drink it in front of her. Since spending most of her time with him, anyway, that was how long she had gone without coffee. At first it was just to save money while sleeping in a crowded shelter, Phoebe gave up the perks of having a good job and her nice small studio apartment in New York just to start a new life.

"We could help with that?" Colby spoke up, laying on his back with his arm draped over his face.

"I am not a charity case." Phoebe said before she took another well needed gulp of coffee, cradling it in between her fingers, gingerly turning it so that she could grasp the handle on the mug.

"We're not saying you are. But friends don't let friends sleep under the interstate." Jon stood up, stretching.

Him and Colby both had no shirts on. As alluring as that was, as great looking as the both of them were, Phoebe refused to acknowledge that she had been touching their skin through the night without realizing it. First Jon kissing her and then waking up to two men cuddling with her, this would probably have been a dream come true for the WWE fans that followed Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose but it made Phoebe feel strange.

It wasn't a bad feeling, just something strange.

She enjoyed it.

"Look, it's not your problem." Phoebe said, going back to the conversation that she and the other three of them were having. "I can take care of myself, I have since I could remember."

"You don't need to do it alone." Heather looked at her friend.

"I have done it alone since I was younger. Drunk parents, a brother that was a drug addict. It's funny, I was ten when I learned that alcoholism was hereditary. And you know what, I wanted to become a bartender. They always told me that I would never amount to much because we were poor and had nothing to our name. We would be project people for the rest of our lives." While she spoke about that, Phoebe stared into her coffee as if watching the memories float on by in the dark brown depths of the beverage. "I never once drank. I refused to drink while I trained to be a bartender."

"Why would you want to be a bartender?" Jon asked approaching her.

"Because then I could control the alcohol, I can decide when someone has had too much and send them home safe and sound. I never let the alcohol control me."

Phoebe looked at Jon as he stood in front of her, looking at her with an impassive expression on his face. He reached over and pushed the large section of blond hair behind her shoulder, making sure that her face was visible.

"I can only agree with that. You know I grew up in the slums of Cincinnati, the projects of East End. I was told that I wouldn't be anything, but my goal was to become a wrestler. As bloody as I got at times, I didn't care. I wanted nothing more than to be in that ring and kick ass."

The commonality between Jon and Phoebe was there, it was something that Phoebe liked to hear. Most of the people she came in contact with, people like the Anoa'i family were rich and were successful and it always made her feel like she was just some low life with nothing to live for, at least that was her past thinking. But here was a successful man, though an entertainer, who had come from similar childhood experiences like her.

Maybe it would be worth their time if they knew.

"What is it with that look?" Colby asked, standing up. "You look ashamed of something."

So Phoebe took a deep breath and opened her mouth and heart to the two that didn't know. "I've been living in a homeless shelter for the last month while I've tried looking for a job." She closed her eyes, waiting for the three of them to laugh at her. "I put my home address as the address of the shelter just so that it looks like I have a home."

"Why didn't you tell Matt any of this?" Heather reached out and touched Phoebe's shoulder lightly.

"I did tell someone."

"Who?" Heather and Colby asked.

"Me," came the simply response from Jon as he continued looking at her.

"I didn't tell Matt because I didn't want it interfering with me getting a job. I mean it already looked like everyone else wanted the more Islander feel to it, keeping it all in the family sort of. What's one more piece of ammo to fire at me. I'm homeless, that's why I'm always early because the shelter I stay at is only six blocks from work? Yeah, like that's going to go over well for me."

In response to that, Jon leaned his head down so that his nose was near hers but that was as close as he dared to get to her, in case she punched him again.

"Matt is a good guy. He's seen the potential in you, Phoebe. You have nothing to worry about. Matt's the good guy, the rest of them are bitches that need to have their heads reexamined. Well Kathy I can see, but maybe Candace and Katrina have changed, what little I have seen. I think you and Heather were the first that tried not to let their boobs do the talking."

Jon knew what to say and do to make Phoebe laugh. Just to get out of the funk she was in.

For that she was grateful for him to be there.

* * *

Malia went to St. Agnes Elementary school, which had been his own elementary school when he was her age. Rochelle held his hand as they walked through the front doors. The only people there were others parents coming to talk to their children's teachers about grades and other stuff. Unlike a lot of the other Catholic schools in the area, this place didn't have a uniform that the children were supposed to wear, so today Malia was walking ahead of them dressed in what would be called her Beauty and the Beast dress. It was yellow, her hair was up in a twisted bun that Rochelle managed to do and she had black flats on that squeaked when she skipped down the hall.

"Don't go too fast, Malia." Rochelle reminded the young girl.

The only reply she got was a giggle.

"She's fine." Joe said, tugging Rochelle closer to his side as a little boy came running by. "She's just happy that today is no school."

"I can only guess what she wants to do with the rest of the day and then tomorrow."

Joe was lucky that Malia had the next two days off because of the parent teacher conferences. And since he had been given time off for this week, he wanted to spend as much time as he could with Rochelle and Malia, mostly Malia because she hadn't really understood why her Daddy was never home like normal daddies were.

Malia stopped outside the door to her classroom. "Uncle Matt says that Rapunzel is helping out at Island Boi later. Is that true?"

"Uh, just for a little while longer, sweetie." Joe answered.

"Can I go see her? She's nice." Malia said as she waited for her parents to catch up.

"I don't think she's working today, sweetie. She had to help when my coworkers came by for dinner. It was really busy there last night. She and Strawberry Shortcake were really busy."

"Who? Oh, you mean Heather Blaise, that girl you went to school with." Rochelle nodded. "I don't want to start anything but I need to talk to you about something, when you have time."

That could mean many different things at the moment. But he had an idea it had to do with his late night excursion to Island Boi. Joe decided to ignore it because they needed to talk to his daughter's teacher about why she was not doing well in math.

Malia had always had an active imagination. But when it came to stuff like math, adding and subtracting, she never seemed interested in it. Not like the fact she had this strange interest in all things Disney Princess related. Most girls did, most pretended to be a princess or a fairy or something like that and Malia was no different. But when it came to math, or learning, she just didn't want to learn.

That's what the meeting turned out to be for Joe and Rochelle. They already knew that there was some stuff going on that needed to be looked into, like a tutor but they didn't know where to start.

"We just, we're not sure." Rochelle said. "We know she's smart, she's not stupid but she's just, it's hard to deal with it on my own."

That statement made Joe look at her.

"I'm not saying that it's either of your faults," Mrs. Gardner said looking at both adults. "Children learn differently. Some kids, it takes longer for them to grasp anything. I've seen it countless times before, though that was with reading and the child has something like dyslexia but Malia knows how to read. Maybe getting a babysitter slash tutor will work for you."

"A babysitter. We have my nephew who watches her…"

"Someone who can watch her and teach her at the same time. It will give you both time to be together, alone. I can recommend a babysitter website if you wish." Mrs. Gardner suggested.

Joe was about ready to agree when Rochelle shook her head. "No, that's okay. We are not letting a stranger watch our daughter."

"Rochelle." Joe mumbled looking at her. "This may work out the best for Malia."

"I don't want some stranger coming to the house, Joe. I'm just not that comfortable with the idea."

"There will be background checks, I'm sure. But if this is good for Malia then why shouldn't we do it. It's a more one on one setting, she's not contending with an entire classroom for help." Joe tried to keep his voice calm while trying not to blow up at the same time.

The last thing he wanted was to have a fight with his wife in front of Malia and her teacher.

"How about you go home and talk about it." Mrs. Gardner suggested. "That way you can take your time and figure out what is best for your daughter, together."

"Fine." Rochelle said, grabbing her purse.

Joe stood up and shook the teacher's hand. "Thank you for letting us know."

"Usually I'm griping about kids not playing well with others, but Malia is a great little girl."

Malia left with her parents, Rochelle pissed off at Joe that she refused to even acknowledge that he was there. Joe walked with his hands shoved into his pockets.

"Daddy, can we go see Uncle Matt at Island Boi?" Malia stopped her skipping as she waited for her father to catch up with her.

"I don't have a problem with that." He said, knowing that Rochelle had to go back to work anyway. "We'll drop mommy off at work and then go over there and see what's going on."

"Okay. I hope Rapunzel and Strawberry Shortcake are there." She smiled before skipping off again.

For his sake, he hoped Rapunzel wasn't.

* * *

**Okay I think I got this one okay, for the most part. Hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll be back in a day or two to get the next chapter out for you.**


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey, let's go eat at Island Boi." Jon suggested. "It's nearby, cheap and maybe Matt will be there."

After dressing for the day, which was around noon or so, Jon, Colby, Heather and Phoebe were discussing what to do that day. First things first, eating. When Heather declared she didn't have much in the way of real food for them and since Colby wanted to get out and go to the beach, that's when Jon suggested Island Boi.

"Would it sound strange that I have not visited the beach since I've been here?" Phoebe asked as she waited outside with Jon and Colby while Heather locked up the apartment.

"Would it sound strange to say your legs look great in those heels?" Jon asked, looking down and smirking.

Because Phoebe didn't have a clean change of cloths, besides her uniform from the day before, Heather decided that it would be cool to dress up. Dresses didn't really bother Phoebe, she kind of liked them but she never had enough money for any fancy or nice dresses growing up. So she and Heather decided that while the guys were waking up then they would go into Heather's bedroom and try on some cloths to head out in. They weren't told to come in that day and Phoebe didn't feel like walking around in her Daisy Dukes another day.

"Head up, Romeo." She took her finger and pushed Jon's head up so that he was looking her in the face.

He simply smiled in return.

"Hey, Pup," Phoebe said as she turned to look at Colby, who smirked at her. "Do I really look good?"

"Don't second guess yourself." He responded, looking at the white knee high thin strapped dress. "You do look great, Phoebes."

It hid most of her scars on her back, while her hair blocked most of the other ones that were harder to see on her shoulders. Phoebe was actually pleased with the way the dress looked on her. Not that she wasn't ugly or blah or anything, she knew she was pretty. But just seeing herself in that dress and the nice comments from Jon and Colby, even Heather, she smiled to herself.

Heather walked out of the house wearing the same style dress but it was red to match her hair. She had her purse hooked over her arm as she locked the front door. "Ready to go?"

"Sure thing, Shortcake." Jon said, his eyes looking her over.

"Can't you just pick one and stick with her?" Phoebe asked, smirking at her friend.

"Sorry, no can do." The taller man said, wrapping both his arms around the girls' waists before walking them along the upper landing of the apartment building.

Ditching the car, the four of them headed towards Island Boi. With it being just blocks away there was no need to drive. It was a nice day, with a slight breeze. Being so close to the Gulf of Mexico in the early part of the year it wasn't so bad. Sure there were some strange weather going on, especially the day the highest temperature was forty degrees down in the subtropic climate, but this day was gorgeous. At least it was for Phoebe as she walked.

Usually Phoebe would kerp her hair up in a braid, but this day she brushed it out and kept it in a loose. As a joke, there was a large red flower hair clip in her hair, giving her a more tropical kind of look.

"I kind of like these heels. They aren't like high heels; low heels. I hate heels because they hurt my ankles." She said as they came to a stop light, waiting to cross the street. "But these feel great, Heather."

"Glad you like them because I don't. You can have them." She waved her hand in a slightly.

"I don't want to," she stopped because Heather held her hands up.

"You've helped me. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be given this chance to work as a bartender. Now I'm more confident with myself and my skills. After last night I am surprised I survived that rush that was going on. You don't know how much I appreciate you."

It had been a long time since someone told Phoebe they appreciated her. Had someone appreciated her? Not since she was at bartender college.

"Okay." That was when the walk light turned on. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

Joe held open the door to Island Boi BBQ for Malia. She stepped in and was instantly greeted by Aunt Danica, her mother's sister.

"Hi, Aunt D." Malia said as the woman continued texting at the cash register.

Danica barely looked up. "Hi, Malia. Just so you know, Joe, your friends are here. They are at the back dry bar."

"Colby should be leaving soon for Smack Down today." Joe said putting his hand on Malia's shoulder. "Wonder what he's doing here."

But Joe was not expecting to see the bartenders from the night before, dressed to impress his friends. They sat with their legs crossed, Heather facing Colby and Phoebe facing Jon, talking and having a grand ole time. Jon had his hand on Phoebe's knee and she was allowing it. Whatever they were talking about seemed to be something good.

Phoebe's hair was lower set, hanging off the bar stool she was sitting on and giving the impression that it had grown longer. It was that woman's hair that caught Malia's attention, because the little girl headed straight for the corn blond haired woman.

"Hi." Malia said, standing right in front of Phoebe making the four adults look at her.

Joe watched Phoebe shove Jon's hand away as she turned to look at the little girl with a smile on her face. Malia looked shyly at the woman, apparently remembering that Phoebe was Rapunzel and the lady that had given her that special drink when she came by the bar with her parents.

"Hi there, sweetie. Glad to see you again." Phoebe said leaning down to look her in the face.

Joe worried his lip a little, but saw Jon looking at him. Of course Jon would have caught that look, there was no mistaking it, and the fact that Jon glared at him in response was enough to stop.

"How are you?" Malia asked.

"We'll I'm doing just fine, just waiting on lunch to get here. Did you two want to join us? I mean, if these three don't mind?" Phoebe sat back up and motioned to Jon, Heather and Colby.

"I don't have a problem with it." Heather said glancing around Colby's shoulder to look at Joe and Malia. "You look like Belle from Beauty and the Beast."

"I know, I like that movie. I like all Disney Princesses but…Cinderella is my favorite."

"Why is that?" Phoebe asked.

"Because, even though she didn't have a nice life before she met Prince Charming, he gave her a dream come true. Don't you want a dream come true, Phoebe, Heather?"

Both woman glanced at each other before Phoebe spoke up. "Well sure, everyone has a dream. We all do. I have things I wish to accomplish in my life right now."

Joe cleared his throat. "You four want to be alone? I can always sit somewhere else."

"We don't mind her being here, Ro." Jon said. "She's a cute kid. Stinks that we can't hang out with her." Jon slid off of the bar stool, grabbed his beer and moved to sit on the other side of Joe. "There you go, Princess, now you can sit next to Rapunzel."

Rochelle never liked Malia being around Jon, Colby wasn't that bad because he had young nieces and nephews back in Iowa so he knew how to be with a kid. Jon was too immature and had a potty mouth and Malia liked repeating things adults say.

"What do you say, Princess?" Joe asked as he and her sat down.

"Thank you, Jon." Malia smiled and then went to sit down on the bar stool next to Phoebe.

"Isn't it school today?" Heather asked as Colby leaned forward to look around her at Joe.

"There was a parent teacher conferences going on today, and tomorrow. Rochelle is at work and since I have the next couple of days off, I get a chance to be with Malia."

"That's good. What's your favorite subject in school, sweetie?" Phoebe asked.

"Reading time, because I can read better than anyone else in class. I don't like math."

"Really? Too bad, math is really important in life."

"So, it's hard. I don't like it."

"Just means you have to try harder. Was it easy for Beauty to fall in love with The Beast?" Phoebe asked, using the girl's dress as a reference.

Malia sighed.

"Do you think it was easy for Rapunzel to be stuck in a tower most of her life, dealing with her hair? Not to mention when she had to let a full grown man use it to climb up the tower to rescue her? Honey, I'm sure she had a headache for a week after that."

The little girl laughed slightly. "I guess not. But I just don't understand it."

"Do you have some of your work with you? Maybe I can help." Phoebe suggested looking down at the little girl's backpack.

Joe watched Malia rummage through her backpack and pulled out a math packet. When she handed it over to the long haired woman, Phoebe cringed.

"I had no respect for word problems. I remember watching CrashBox on HBO for fun, they had something on there called Psycho Math. They used symbols instead of numbers." She mentioned looking at the packet of stapled papers together. "I can understand where this could be a problem. But look, these are just numbered apples and oranges. Two apples plus two oranges, how many fruit do you have all together. Just count all the fruit together in the bowl."

"One, two, three, four? Four fruits all together?"

Phoebe clapped. "Yeah, that's exactly right. There's four fruit in the bowl all together. Now look, there's three apples, and two oranges in this bowl. Count the fruit."

Malia bit her lower lip and quietly counted to herself. "The answer is five, right?"

"Yes, that's exactly right. Now, let's see if you can do two more on your own." Phoebe pulled a pencil from Malia's backpack and handed it to the little girl.

"Thank you." Joe said, earning a smile from Phoebe.

"Children thrive on encouragement. If they hear they are doing a great job then they try better to please the parents and adults." Phoebe said.

"The teacher wants Malia to have a tutor but Rochelle doesn't think having a stranger watch her is the best thing. She already gets watched by her older cousin Jordan, my nephew and Matt's oldest son."

"Do you have any idea if you are going to do it, do what the teacher asked?" Colby spoke up.

"I want to but Rochelle is nearly dead set against the entire thing." Joe ran his hand over Malia's head as she concentrated on the math packet. "I know how precious education is."

"It is important, if you don't instill it early enough you could risk a child who doesn't want to learn. I wanted to learn from an early age. Actually I wanted to be a teacher for a long time."

"You wanted to be a teacher, Rapunzel?" Jon looked at her with raised brows. "I can't see you standing at the front of the classroom and trying to teach, what Trig to a bunch of kids."

She laughed. "I only got as far as algebra and geometry. Course I got to Chemistry in the science department but that had elements of trig in there as well. I loved it, I loved all of it."

A woman with light brown hair and the traditional Island Boi outfit came up to the dry bar. "Sorry about the wait." She apologized putting plates down in front of Phoebe, Jon, Heather and Colby. "Oh, hi, Joe. I'm Nora, the waitress serving them. Did you two need a menu?"

"Uh, yeah, that would be helpful." He smiled at the short brown haired woman, who smiled at him.

That's when Joe saw it, he watched Colby lean further on the counter top, watching her leave. "Dude, you have it bad."

"What? What bad?" He asked, sitting back and looking at him.

"Nora." He smirked at his friend. "Ah, ah, there it is. I was waiting for it." He laughed at the reddened look to Colby's face.

"What?" Malia asked looking from her dad to Colby. "I don't get it."

Phoebe put a hand on her shoulder. "It's adult talk, sweetie. Not for little girls to listen to. I think Colby likes Brunettes though."

"Like, uh, Princess Jasmine from Aladdin?" She asked.

"Maybe, who knows. We're just giving Aladdin here a hard time." Heather added. "It's fun, because now we get to pick on him."

"Why? Bullies aren't nice."

Phoebe and Heather looked at each other. "Well, we're friends. Teasing is okay, as long as it's good teasing. Not like what sometimes happens at schools."

"Oh."

Joe smiled as Malia went back to her math packet.

* * *

Phoebe watched as the waves came on it fast, she screeched and ran away from it, nearly tripping over her feet. Jon grabbed her by the waist and hauled her up in the air slightly as he out ran the impending water.

"I got you, Rapunzel!"

"Don't drop me, Ambrose!" She yelled right back at him, gripping his forearms.

Once she was put down on the ground, a safe distance away from the sea water, she looked around. Heather and Malia were standing barefoot in the waves, picking up sea shells. Joe was, where was Joe?

"If you're looking for Joe, he's over there." Jon pointed out as he came to stand next to her.

He was on his phone talking to someone, who she didn't know. Maybe Rochelle.

"You shouldn't like him too much." Jon said out of nowhere.

"What? Sorry, I don't think I heard you right." She looked at him.

"He's married, Phoebes."

"I know that. Is it so bad that I wanted to know where he was at?"

Jon shook his head. "I don't think he is the kind of guy to ditch his daughter for some ass. Joe's got a lot more morals in him that I do. I wouldn't mind trying with you though." He shoved his hands in his pockets.

She looked at him but shook her head. "No, I don't want that. Not now at least. I'm not interested in finding romance or any symbolism of romance right now. I need to make my money and get my own place."

"You need to tell him, you need to tell Matt that you don't got a place to stay."

"I know I should, I probably would have if he had been there today."

She toed at the softer sand under her foot. Pushing a chunk of her hair from her face, Phoebe looked at Jon. There weren't a lot of people around the beach at that time, surprisingly. Maybe it had to do with the colder weather coming through Florida at the time. Less people meant that there weren't any fans around to bother the three men that were semi famous.

"Just call him, tell him you need to tell him something." Jon sighed. "Don't put your pride in front of your life. You need help we can help you."

She looked at him. Was it a good thing to have admitted that she was homeless to him, now to Colby and Heather?

But was she willing to tell her employer that she was homeless?

At that moment, Phoebe wasn't so sure.

* * *

**First I want to say sorry for the long delay in posting for this story. I've had a family emergency and I have been swamped with caring for my younger brother. So writing really did take a backseat to life right now.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this update. I'll try for another one in a few days, hopefully if I still don't have other obligations to tend to.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	13. Chapter 13

Jon and Colby had left later in the day after the luncheon at Island Boi, which had been for the most part enjoyable. Helping Joe's little girl with her math issues and just having a good ole time about it was worth it to Phoebe. There was something about spending time with Malia that Phoebe really enjoyed. It was the innocence of the entire thing. Not to mention that she hadn't spent a lot of time with Joe.

"Hey, how are you Phoebe?" She looked up from where she was tending to the bar.

It had been about a day since she last saw Joe, Malia, Colby and Jon. All of them, except for Malia, had gone out on the road to perform as wrestlers. Tuesday was not busy and Heather was cleaning some tables off to the side. But Phoebe hadn't seen Rochelle since the meeting, only heard about her in passing. So seeing Rochelle walk into the bar was a little bit of a shock for the younger woman.

Like the last time she had seen Rochelle, Phoebe saw that she wore nice cloths, cloths that she herself couldn't possibly afford even if she had a full time job. Nice blouse, a nice set of earrings that rested against the woman's dark skin. She looked like a business woman, wearing a knee high black skirt with nylon stockings and black expensive looking shoes. Phoebe felt that she couldn't match up to Rochelle any day of the week. At all, in fact.

So Phoebe placed a nice smile on her face and answered. "I'm doing good. Trying to get the place ready for the evening run tonight. How are you doing?"

"Oh, good. Really good in fact. And Joe's doing okay too." She smiled, wringing her hands slightly.

"I'm sure he is." Kathy said, glancing between Phoebe and Rochelle. "Danica was talking about the visit to Island Boi Joe had with her, Heather and his two friends."

Great, this just meant she was going to accuse her of adultery. Phoebe stiffened up and waited for her to continue.

"Malia told me that you spent most of the lunch helping her with your homework. She's really fond of you. I'm glad she finally warmed up to you." Rochelle said, bringing her dark gaze towards the blond woman.

"She's a sweet little girl. Hasn't really started calling me Rapunzel yet, but I wouldn't bet too much longer she will be calling me that. Yeah, I helped her with some of her math issues."

"She went on and on about you. She loves you it seems." Rochelle laughed shakily. "Anyway, I'm sure Joe told you about a tutor baby sitting job."

Phoebe shook her head as she walked around the side of the bar. "He did mention that the teacher suggested you guys finding a tutor to help with her math issues."

"Well, he told me to talk to you about it. I mean, you work here, yes I know. But with Joe gone, no one is there to pick Malia up from the bus stop. I just recently got a job change at the bank I work at and it would be only an hour and a half all school days, I don't work on the weekends. And she seems to really like you, you know."

"I see the dilemma you have." Phoebe glanced at the ever quiet Kathy who seemed to be glaring at her.

"Well usually speaking, it's Matt's oldest son who watches his younger siblings and Malia if I am not able to pick her up when the bus drops her off. His parents divorced and have shared custody of the three of them. I usually have Jordan watch Malia but he's been wanting freedom from kids. And since you seem to not be put off by Joe having a wife and a daughter…"

"Why would I be put off?" Phoebe asked sincerely.

"I don't know. I figured you would be a fan since you were allowed to temporarily work here. I never did get know your background."

"No, I'm not actually a fan. And since last Monday Night here, I have had no real intentions of every getting involved with wrestling other than them coming back to the bar. That huge guy nearly drank one of our taps dry. I was pouring the cocktails mainly and Heather had the shots, we were tag teaming on the shooters because it was just too hectic."

"Where was my sister, and my cousins?" Rochelle looked at Kathy for the answer.

"My mom was sick, she called me half way through the shift." Kathy held her hands up. "And besides Phoebe had Candace and Katrina slaving the tables like some waitresses or something. That isn't their jobs."

"I thought Matt put her in charge of the bar." Rochelle gestured towards Phoebe.

"He did, and I put them where they would be useful and they did a kick ass job. They pulled their weight around here doing work they were more qualified for." Phoebe tried to explain to Joe's wife.

Why? Why would she try to prove that she had what it took to run the bar better than Kathy? Maybe it had to do with the fact that this family was so connected with each other.

"I had a family emergency. Not like you would know? You probably don't have any." Kathy jabbed at the long haired woman.

"I don't have any worth my time. And what's worse, you didn't leave the keys to the bar. I had to call Matt to get the extra set from Joe."

"So that's where he went at around two o'clock in the morning." Phoebe saw Rochelle lower her head, like she was ashamed of something. "Wow, I was a total bitch to him over nothing."

Phoebe shifted uncomfortably. "Well, about this tutor thing. What time do you need me to come by the house?" What she really wanted was to get back to something that didn't include Kathy making a big ass out of her.

"Uh, just a little before two- thirty in the afternoon. Malia gets off the bus at around two forty. I won't be home until four."

"I'll see about changing my bar schedule with Matt. Maybe he won't mind me coming in a little later, especially when it seems like people tend to come in after five anyway. Heather would have to come in earlier but if this is to help his niece, I don't think he would object to it. Would you like to come with me and talk to him. I think he's here today."

Rochelle nodded, still fiddling with the strap of her purse. "I think that would be best. That way he can hear it from me."

Phoebe whistled at her co-worker. "Hey, Strawberry, Rochelle and I are going to talk to Matt for a little bit. I'll be back soon."

"Kay." Heather responded before going back to sweeping trash from under the farthest booth seat in the bar.

"You two need anything before I go?" Phoebe asked as she looked at Candace and Katrina who were restocking the bar.

Both sisters looked at their cousin, who still appeared to be pissed off that she wasn't the center of attention in the obvious fight she had with Phoebe.

"Um, no, nothing right now." Katrina asked.

"Actually, when is the cooking crew coming in?" Candace asked.

"In half an hour to set up the kitchen." Phoebe answered and the two of them nodded.

It was good that they were getting on track with what needed to be done in the bar. There was still the issue of Kathy in her undermining ways. But Matt hadn't said of done anything about the incident from Monday. If something like that was going to happen then she was sure that he would know.

* * *

**The Next Day…Somewhere in America**

When Joe was out on the road he always called home when he could. Skyping his daughter was mandatory but only when she wasn't sleeping. When Wednesday came around, Joe called the house phone, expecting to have Rochelle answer. But it wasn't her.

"Hello?" Joe jerked the phone back as if it had slapped him. "Hello?"

"Phoebe?"

"Oh, hi Joe. Rochelle offered me a babysitting job since she had a shift change at her work. Did you want to talk to Malia. She's doing homework in the kitchen."

Phoebe sounded like she didn't have a care in the world. In the background he heard the whirring of the dishwasher going.

"Uh, yeah, sure I guess." Joe answered once he got his mind under control.

"Malia, your dad's on the phone. Don't talk too much longer, you still have six more problems to do before you can go play."

"Okay." He heard her before Malia's voice came over the line clearer. "Daddy!"

"Hi, Princess. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing okay. Mommy went and asked Rapunzel to be here when I got off the bus. It was surprise. Everyone will know that Rapunzel is my babysitter."

Joe vaguely listened to his daughter talk about Phoebe. But his mind went to the fact that Rochelle actually got Phoebe do what needed to be done with Malia. Why would Rochelle do that? She didn't know Phoebe at all, and if she listened to any of the talk from her sisters or cousins then she didn't. Why would Rochelle let Phoebe watch their daughter?

"Okay, Daddy, Rapunzel says I have to finish my homework now. I miss you, Daddy."

"I miss you too, Princess. Be a good girl for Phoebe, okay?"

"I will, Daddy. See you soon."

"Yeah, see you soon." He replied quietly as Malia handed the phone to Phoebe.

He heard Phoebe chuckle before coming back on the line. "Hi, Joe. How have things been going for you?" She asked.

"I guess it hasn't been all that bad. It's wrestling."

"Which I don't watch. Anyway, how are Jon and Colby doing?" She asked.

"Okay, I guess. They're out at the gym right now."

"They call us when they can. Jon invited us out to Las Vegas because he wants to meet Heather's sister. I told them I couldn't not until I get a permanent job, at least. But Heather seems interested in going."

"So, Matt hasn't decided on to hire you for the job has he?"

"You're not going to talk to him about it are you? I was hoping to catch him when I went in to work after Rochelle comes back from work. Hold on." Phoebe said. "That's very good, sweetie, you got them all right. Why don't you go get the brush and you can braid my hair for me." She came back. "Sorry, I told Malia that she could braid my hair for work tonight when she finished her math work."

Joe couldn't help but laugh. He rested back against the head board of his hotel bed. "She loves everything pink and beauty related."

"Yeah well, I stop at children's make up. I can do the bare minimum when trying to look good but that is about it."

That didn't surprise Joe any. She had a personality to her that intrigued Joe. But it was a platonic feeling. He could see how well she did with Malia, how well she treated the little girl.

"Not to sound rude but, why would my wife offer you this job? She had an issue with hiring someone she didn't know to help with Malia."

"She told me that you told her to talk to me."

"No I didn't. I mentioned you and what you did when we met at lunch Tuesday but I never told her she needed to talk to you."

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm here now, Malia has enjoyed it so far and I don't really have an issue with it. Other than I don't have a car and I have to take a bus to work. But I'm still going to make the best of it. I'm trying to save up for a car."

"Do you need help with that?"

"No, I don't. I prefer to do things myself. I like being an independent woman." She laughed at her music reference.

He smiled at how cute her laugh was but then shook his head. "There is no shame in asking friends for help, Phoebe. And besides, I like you. I really do." Instantly Joe snapped his eyes shut and cringed at what he said but quickly found something to else to add to it. "If you need anything don't hesitate to tell me, or Rochelle, Phoebe. You've been a great help to a lot of people. As far as I'm concerned you're now a friend to us."

"Rapunzel, I got the brush!" Joe heard Malia call out.

"I knew it wouldn't take her long to be calling me that." She murmured to Joe and he laughed in response. "Okay, sweetie. I have to go, Joe. Malia is going to help me with my hair. I'll let Rochelle know you called, okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. Talk to you later."

"Say Love You Daddy, Malia," Phoebe said holding out the phone.

"Love you, Daddy. See you soon." He couldn't help but smile. Rochelle never did that when they ended the call, or even something remotely close to that.

"All right, Joe, talk to you later. Stay safe out there."

"I will. See you soon." He said and then he heard the click of the phone.

Tossing his phone down on the bed next to him, Joe looked up at the ceiling. He couldn't remember a time when Rochelle trusted a woman. She had her issues with him working around other women, now there was a woman she didn't know in their home helping their daughter. Did Rochelle trust him enough now to have another woman in their lives?

He sure hoped so because then that would mean maybe they could get over some of their other issues and go back to being happily married.

* * *

**Well, I'm back as you can see. So how do you guys like the update? It's the best that I could do under the stress that I've been with for the last like week.**

**So, yeah, hope you enjoyed the update. I'll be back when I can. **


	14. Chapter 14

"I need you to come in tomorrow." Matt said during their night shift on Wednesday.

Phoebe had just gotten in from her babysitting job for Rochelle Anoa'i, barely getting to the bar on time for the evening rush of the bar. The bus was late, maybe it was time to start opening her mouth. She needed to let Matt know that she needed help. But she had never asked for help before. And then Matt needed her to do something off the clock.

"We're closing Island Boi bar because we're having a family gathering, at least for those that are in Florida and only for the ones that are of adult drinking age. Joe will be there, Rochelle I think will be there along with my parents. I really want them to meet you, both you and Heather." Matt said as he rubbed his chest.

"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked watching what he was doing.

"I'm fine. Just tired from the influx of people coming in to the restaurant and bar lately. You really have helped bring people around to Island Boi. Which is why I'm officially going to hire you and Heather as our night time bartenders."

"Great, I think. With the bar already filling up now, I can see why that would be a good thing." She glanced up as another group of five people walked in. "I'm glad that the kitchen is open now. Max is a great cook and the seafood dishes are great with the fruity drinks that everyone seem to be going for. I'm glad we finally put the Samoan Drop on the menu. That's the signature drink that a lot of people are willing to buy."

Matt excused himself. He continued rubbing his chest as he walked back through the swinging door that went into the restaurant. This only made Phoebe a little bit nervous. Her boss was the one hiding something, not just her.

"Everything okay?" Heather asked as Phoebe came back around to behind the bar.

"I think Matt isn't feeling good. He keeps rubbing his chest."

"Jon told me that Matt has had a heart attack like last year."

Phoebe sighed as she started grabbing glasses as people were waiting for her to start serving them. "I'll keep an eye on that."

That was something she was going to keep an eye on.

* * *

There was a light rain that greeted Phoebe and Heather as they were getting ready for that special Thursday at Island Boi. It was a light rain, not a down pour that had happened the nigh before.

"Thanks for letting me borrow your pants." Phoebe said walking out of Heather's bathroom.

Heather smiled, "You know, if you need to do laundry my apartment complex has a laundry room. I can pay half of it if you want me to." Heather said as she walked out of the kitchen area with two mugs of coffee in her hands.

Gratefully taking the offered mug, Phoebe took a tentative drink before answering. "That would be good, Heather. Thanks."

Matt explained that the family would be arriving around noon, with his three kids in school his ex-wife Mandy was going to be there and then others. She was told that Dwayne would be there with his ex wife best friend and then Joe would be there, Phoebe was sure Rochelle was going to be there with him. Of course Jon Good would be there as well.

"Colby has to be on the road, Jon was giving some time off." Heather said as they walked out of her apartment.

Hugging her hoodie closer to herself, Phoebe sighed. "Well, at least we'll only have to deal with the real idiot of the group."

"He's a good guy." Heather defended the Lunatic Fringe friend of theirs.  
"I know he is. I just wish he would think before he opened his mouth. Great guy, great looking guy, and I see the way you smile at him."

Again with the rosey blush creeping up on Heather's face. "Okay, so I like him. He's cool, but he so has his eyes on you."

"Awe, thank you. Well, I'm not looking for anyone right now, I want to focus on settling in here and getting on with my life."  
"You never did say why you moved down to Pensacola in the first place." Heather asked.

"I blindfolded myself, twisted around and threw a dart at a map. Pensacola was the closest to where the dart hit on the map therefore I moved here."

Heather crossed her arms. "That's not a real good reason."

"I wanted to move next to a beach and Miami is not the place I would have gone to in the first place. I wanted the beach, I put up a map of Florida, this is where the dart landed. End of story."

Phoebe was glad that Heather decided not to pursue the matter any further. It made her skin prickle with the knowledge that she had nearly spoken up about something she was trying to hide.

They got to Island Boi just as Matt was opening. Look who was with him, Kathy, Katrina and Candace. The three cousins glanced at the slightly wet duo of bartenders as they showed up.

"You look like drowned rats." Kathy giggled, looking at Phoebe in particular.

Matt wheezed slightly as he opened the door. "Don't start shit." He didn't sound happy or healthy.

"Come on, Kathy, can't you just get over it?" Candace asked as she opened the door to the bar.

"It's funny seeing them like that." Kathy shrugged as if it was an okay thing to say.

"Well stop or you may just loose your job." Matt quickly coughed right afterward.

Phoebe shook her head. "Let her talk what she wants. I've heard worse in my life." She leveled a look at Kathy, who just flipped her hair over her shoulder almost like symbolically flipping Phoebe off in the process.

When Heather followed the three women, Phoebe had to physically stop Matt from following the group of female employees. She stood there looking up at him, her jaw set hard that her molars crunched slightly. Not because of Kathy but because of what she was witnessing with Matt's morning wheezing movements.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He responded.

"I call bullshit. Just so you know, if I see you struggling in there, breathing hard and rubbing your chest, I'm making you sit out for a the rest of the time your family is there. Let me take care of it."

"If it goes that far. And you don't know how to run a restaurant."

"You don't know how to run a bar so let's work together on this. Let's make this work for each other. I want to see your restaurant succeed, I want to see the bar get people in at night and have extra money coming in for you, your children's future, maybe even let me succeed in what I want. But right now, be extra careful with your health, Matt."

"Okay, sure. Can we go in before we get any more wet out here?" He asked as the rain drops started coming down harder.

She smiled and walked in, keeping an eye on him as she went.

* * *

Joe had gotten home on the night before the Thursday family gathering and he decided to stick to the house to be there when Malia woke up in the morning. Rochelle was already asleep when he got in and didn't want to miss waking his little princess up when he was home.

"Malia, honey." Joe said walking into his daughter's room.

She was still sleeping in her princess bed, a pink canopy bed that was specifically made for her. There were stuff animals, several doll houses and a Cinderella castle doll house where she liked playing most of the time. There were stuffed animals hanging around in the corners, and most of the cloths Joe could see in the closet were princess oriented. This was the perfect little girl's room, which he would be changing when she got older in a few years.

"Malia," Joe pushed her hair from her face, making her stir slightly. "Come on, Princess, time to get up. We need to get you ready for school." He shook her little shoulder.

Malia sighed and then turned to look at her daddy. Joe smiled and pushed his fingers through her thick hair.

"Morning, Princess. Can you get up now so we"can get breakfast in our bellies?"  
Malia smiled and wrapped her little arms around his neck. Joe easily lifted her up, as he usually did in the mornings that he was home. He carried her out of the bedroom, meeting Rochelle in the hall.

"Hi, Baby." Joe said seeing his wife.

"You got her up? That's good, because she was being a lazy bump this morning." Rochelle tickled Malia's side, causing the little girl to squeal in laughter. "Go feed our baby, Joe while I get ready to go."

That meant Rochelle was going to be taking a shower, doing her makeup and picking out a dress to wear. She always did that when there was a large family gathering, like she had to look good for his family. Rochelle's parents were long gone, so it was Joe's parents that were like her parents. And with Joe's family being so big, he knew she some times felt swamped by everyone involved.

"Is cousins Joshua and Jonathan going to the grown up drinking party?" Malia asked as they got down to the kitchen together.  
"No, unfortunately not. Though don't tell your mom but Jon Good is going to be there because Rapunzel and Strawberry Shortcake will be there. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if I got Phoebe to come over after school today and visit with you."

"Yes!" Malia laughed as Joe put the bowl of Cherrios down in front of her.

"Eat up, Princess. Then we need to get you in the bath and then dressed so we can get to the bus stop."

Cleaning up the kitchen a little bit, Joe stood around and talked to Malia. This was what he loved to do when he was home with his daughter, this morning routine of theirs. Joe gets her up in the morning and off to school when he could. Telling her one of her princess stories at night. Doing menial jobs around the house just so that Rochelle didn't feel like she was doing all of the housework.

"Phoebe said that you did her hair yesterday before she went to work. Did you do a good job?" He asked putting the dishwasher dishes up.

"She said I did. Her hair is not like mine. Is that because she's a white woman?"

"Everyone's hair is different, sweetie. White or black, Asian, we all have different hair. Grandma is Italian, remember?"

"Oh yeah. It's just that Auntie D and Kathy say that Rapunzel is white trash. They tell Mommy these things."

He glanced at his daughter over his shoulder, not enjoying where the conversation was going but wanted to know more about what Malia would say. "That's not nice."

"But they come over here and tell her that Phoebe doesn't belong at Island Boi, and Strawberry too, because they don't look like us. But Katrina and Candace didn't say that the last time they were here. They didn't say bad stuff about Phoebe or Heather at all."

"Why would Auntie D and Aunt Kathy say those things? Is it because Phoebe and Heather have peach colored skin like Grandma?"

"Yeah. They aren't exotic, not like they are. At least that's what Kathy likes to say."

Joe looked up because Rochelle was standing in the kitchen wearing her hair up in a towel and she had a robe on. She bit her lip, having pretty much heard a lot of what Malia had said.

"Do they really say that stuff, Rochelle?" He questioned her as he turned to fully face his wife.

She shrugged. "I hear a lot of stuff about Phoebe taking over, going over their heads. I, I guess they feel threatened by Phoebe because she's so well trained with the bar stuff."

"Then why did you hire her to be with our daughter?"

"I decided that since Malia seems to like her and she did help with that work packet when you took her to Island Boi that maybe I could use the help. She was nice, she didn't seem to be focused on the wrestling or the fame, as I'm sure most people would be." When Joe didn't interrupt, Rochelle continued. "I talked to Dwayne, to The Usos and Trinity. I just, they said she was good, that she was nice, smart and everyone says the nicest things. So I took the initiative to see if she would do this. Even when my sisters and cousins didn't like her at first. At least for Candace and Katrina."

"And yet you told Phoebe I told you to talk to her when I know I didn't. Sure I mentioned what the teacher said but I never once told you to go talk to Phoebe about it."

Rochelle bit her lip and looked down. He caught her in a lie.

"It's not that big of a deal, Rochelle." Joe walked up to her. "But you might want to start trusting me more, okay."

"I do, sort of." She sighed, pressing the heel of her hand to the side of her head. "I just, I don't think I can trust myself. At least with that knowledge."

"What do you mean by that?

She sighed again. "I want to believe you, Joe. I really do. The way Phoebe talks about you in a platonic way, and how much Malia seems to like her now, but I have other people telling me otherwise. I know I can trust her in our life. But before hand, I don't know. I don't like you being near other women."

Joe sighed. "Trust that I am going to be the best husband, the best father there is for you and Malia. And trust me when I say that whatever is going on at Island Boi with your sisters and your cousins, it's not going to be good if they start something with Phoebe and Heather."

"I thought I could trust them, my family I mean, but I don't understand why they are being the way they are, you know."

"Do you think it's because they feel threatened?"

"No," he gave her a look. "Okay, maybe a little. They are so much better at the bar than Kathy and Katrina and Candace. I don't understand why Danica would feel threatened."

"How would that be the reason for them being so mean to Phoebe?"

"Because, they are the ones telling me the things like she flirts with you."

Joe shrugged. "She does flirt, but tastefully. When she tried out, she made comments about my eyes, sure that's fine. She has a thing for calling everyone honey, sweetie and stuff of endearment. She's a people person. She just knows how to deal with them. She's a great bartender. But she's nothing more than a friend to me, especially with Malia being attached to her right now."

Rochelle seemed to be thinking about something, something really hard. Her dark eyes turned towards Joe for the briefest of moments.

"I don't deserve you, you know that right. You're too perfect, a dream come true."

"Hey, we deserve each other. We made Malia, remember?" He reached out for her, but she stepped out of his grasp. "Chelle?" he saw her smooth out the robe.

"I don't want PDA in front of Malia." She looked at their daughter. "I am going to get ready to go. Malia really needs her bath this morning."

No hug, no kiss, nothing normal that he and Rochelle would do in the morning when he was there. She was pulling and pushing with him again and he didn't really understand why.

First it were Rochelle's insecurities based around what her sisters and cousins telling her. She didn't know who to believe and He hoped that she would believe in him.

At that moment, Joe wasn't sure who to believe anymore. Not even he himself believed that he still loved his wife.

It was like going through the motions with it, and he didn't know why.

Actually he did know why. It was because of one very long haired woman who didn't know how much she was affecting the structure of Joe's family.

* * *

**I don't know what it was with the last chapter, but I think I bungled it or something. Hopefully this chapter has brought a new life to the story. So I hope you guys at least enjoyed this one. I'll update when I can.**

**I am pursuing to finish the stupid thing because I have been playing around with a new series, a short story universe and my intention was to finish this thing before I started another story. I've been fighting with this story because I don't want to give up on it when I seem to like to drop the ball with my other projects that I bore myself with after a while. Now that the momentum is picking up, I see it now where I want to go- sort of- in this chapter. During the course of writing I have changed a lot of the storyline, and now it seems a little clearer but still not quite there yet in my eyes. **

**Thanks for bearing with me through this mess, everyone. I really appreciate it. Makes me happy at least some people believe in my writing ability when it is hard for me to believe in it. A major issue is second guessing myself and I am working on not doing that. Anyway, thanks for reading. I'll see you guys around next time.**


	15. Chapter 15

It was really raining buckets when Joe and Rochelle got to Island Boi. She squealed as she held Joe's hand while they ran across the parking lot. The rain was really coming down by the time they got to the restaurant. When they got to the door they saw others in the family were there. Joe's parents were sitting with Mandy, Matt's ex-wife one of his sisters was there. When he opened the door he was greeted.

"Hi, Joe, Rochelle. How's Princess Malia!" Phoebe waved at them while shaking an ice shaker.

It was at the the bar area where Joe last saw Phoebe and Jon together with Heather. Candace, Katrina and a few of the restaurant's wait staff were already tending to some of the family members that were already at the Bar. Everyone seemed to be having fun.

"She's doing good. She's getting better since you've started helping her with her homework." Rochelle said, though it didn't appear she was as happy to see Heather or something like that.

"Well come on in, sit where you want. Would you like to try something to start off with, Rochelle?"

"Um, no thank you." She responded.

"Do you want anything, Joe?" Heather asked this question.

"Uh, you know what, no not right now. I'll figure it out when I get my food. Thanks anyway." He answered.

Joe cast a glance over at Phoebe who smiled and waved at him before she went back to talking to Cousin Dwayne and Dwayne's ex-wife but best friend Dani. As a matter of fact people kept getting up from the tables to go to that back bar area for refills of Phoebe's famous Samoan Drops.

"What are those things that everyone is drinking? I mean your own mother is drinking it?" Rochelle asked seeing the adults getting up to go to the bar.

"Phoebe put a twist on the Blue Hawaiian, calling it The Samoan Drop. I think she knows enough about wrestling to give it a signature move name."

Kathy was nearby and spoke up. "She says that it matches his eyes. Can you believe that? She probably wants to sleep with him like a lot of those ring rats do."

"We're not having this discussion, Kathleen." Rochelle said looking at her sister. "Go do what you're supposed to do."

"Joe, back me up." Kathy said looking at him.

"I'm not getting in the middle of this." He told her flat out. "This is supposed to be a family gathering, something fun we like to do. I don't want to ruin it by getting in the middle of a fight in my brother's work place."

She did walk off, but this time heading towards the unused bar kitchen since apparently the food was being delivered through the swinging doors that separated the bar from the rest of the restaurant. Matt did say he was closing the business for the day to have the family gathering.

Glancing back over at the bar, where Phoebe was engaging a conversation with Dwayne and one of his sisters. Heather was making her drinks with a passion she had been gaining since working at Island Boi. Actually she had two shakers going on at the same time, smiling as her strawberry blond hair bounced around. If only Candace and Katrina were that willing to smile and make conversations with the family. Well, they did look like they were doing better.

"Jon seems to like her. Phoebe, I mean." Rochelle tried to make a conversation with him.

"He likes anything that stimulates his brain. And that's the nice way of putting it."

Patricia Anoa'i, Joe's mother, walked up to his table. "Hi, Leati Joe. How are you doing? How are you Rochelle?" The older woman asked the two of them.

"We're doing good, Mom." Joe responded.

"How is Phoebe doing with Malia?"

"They adore each other." Rochelle fiddled with a napkin within reach of her hand. "She's enthralled with her. And Malia is doing better with her math because Phoebe makes it engaging."

Patricia smiled, making the lines deepen around her gray eyes. "That is so sweet. Phoebe is such a nice woman. But, um, can I talk to you about something that Malia told me about her?"

This couldn't be totally good, Joe thought as his mother sat across from him and Rochelle.

* * *

Phoebe looked up when she saw Matt and another serving woman walk by the bar. The woman- who turned out to be Nora- was walking faster than Matt, who seemed to be wheezing a lot worse than he had been earlier. Wiping her hands off on a towel, Phoebe took a step back from the bar.

"Sorry guys, I'm going to go see if Matt's okay. He's a lot paler than what he needs to be." She said, dropping the towel and heading over to where he was tending to Joe's table.

The closer Phoebe got to her employer she knew something was wrong. Matt was sweating, his breathing was more labored than what it had been earlier. There were waitresses she recognized as the wait staff from the restaurant that were also walking around with the lunch food that were being to the family. One of the women just happened to have been Nora and she was handing out the drinks at Joe's table when she touched Matt's arm.

"Hey, you okay, Matt?" She asked as Phoebe walked up.

Joe looked at Phoebe who stood on the other side of Matt. But Phoebe's sole attention was on Matt.

"Nora, I'm fine." Matt said.

"No you're not." Phoebe looked at the light brown haired woman who was now gripping Matt's arm as he was starting to sway. "I told you if you looked worse then I'm throwing in the towel for you. Go sit with your children."

"I said I'm okay."

"And I'm calling that bull." She responded. "Go sit down before you end up burying yourself six feet under."

Now most of the people in the bar was looking at them. Even Patricia, Matt's own mother, was wearing a mask of concern on her face. As a matter of fact even everyone at the nearby tables were all watching with bated breath. The stubborn man was known to push himself, from what Phoebe had already seen he was good at dismissing the problem.

He looked between the waitress and the bartender. "Neither of you can do what I do around here. You don't even know how to run a restaurant, Phoebe."

"No, but I'm sure there are people that can help. Sit down, relax, let someone else do this." Nora added.

"Nora can introduce me to your system, Heather can handle the drinks when I'm not able." Taking the serving tray from Matt, Phoebe turned him towards the table where his three children were sitting. "Go enjoy your time with your family. Come on, Nora, let's get the rest of the food out for everyone."

"On it." She took the serving tray from Phoebe.

Passing the serving bar in the back Phoebe called out to the bartenders. "Candace, Katrina, you're doing good but you need to pick it up a little. Heather, keep it up. I'll be back in a little bit. I hope your wait staff doesn't mind a bartender yelling commands at them."

"I'm sure it's a one time thing, Rapunzel." Heather responded as she shook the drink shaker she was working with.

"And if you think about getting up from that seat, Matt, I'll make your brother sit you back down!" She called before following Nora into the kitchen area.

Nora looked back at Phoebe. "I thought I was the only one seeing it, you know. I was around when he had his first heart attack."

"I've been seeing it for the last couple of days. He's been rubbing his chest for I don't know how long, I've only seen it for the last few days." Phoebe sighed and shook her head. "Anyway, let's get this food out to the masses of people."

"Let's get it going."

Other waitresses were also coming in to pick up the various orders that were already set out waiting to be delivered. So this was what a restaurant business looked like, Phoebe thought.

Phoebe grabbed table ten's serving tray and followed Nora out as another of the regular waitresses came in to pick up the other serving tray that was waiting to be delivered. Phoebe came back through the kitchen doors out into the sitting area and then smiled at the people that were watching them.

"This is for table eight," Nora pointed towards the table. "Table Ten is over there." She then pointed further towards the back of the bar near one of the booths.

"Got it," Phoebe responded.

The people at the bar, who were mostly hanging around Heather's side were heading back to their seats to enjoy their meals with their new drinks. Dwayne and Dani went back to their table that they were sharing with Rochelle, Joe and nothing looked out of order over there. And then the calm in the restaurant started to even out. The food had been delivered so Phoebe could relax behind the serving bar while keeping an eye on stuff.

"You did an awesome job taking over, Rapunzel." Jon said as she knelt down to look at the empty bottles that were there.

"Thanks. If it wasn't for Nora I would have been lost with what was going on. The kitchen in the restaurant looked great. But I feel more comfortable behind the bar. Hey, I have to go get rid of these empty bottles and replace them. I'll be right back." She said pointing to the bottles she found behind the bar.

"Sure," Heather responded as she was putting some of the dirty glasses on the back bar so that they could be cleaned later.

Kathy hadn't been seen much since just about the time Phoebe and Heather got to Island Boi Bar. When Phoebe entered the bar kitchen, which was helping with the rush of orders going on in the bar, she was greeted by Kathy standing at the bar texting on her phone with two envelopes sitting next to her elbow. When Phoebe walked into the bar kitchen to put the bottles in the recycling bins, Kathy looked up.

"I know all about you, Phoebe Durwin. You know, you should never talk about being homeless in front of a six year old." Kathy looked up at the long haired woman.

"She asked why I didn't have a car and I just told her that I was homeless. But you would know that, considering that your cousin Candace followed Jon and me back to the shelter. I had a feeling that's how the White Trash business started."

Kathy's plump lips formed a thin line. "You were too wrapped up with him. Maybe if you weren't sleeping around with my brother in law and him…"

"I am not wrapped up with Jon and I don't have to explain to you or anyone why he and I were together for that night. Also if you think blackmailing me for something I have never done is not going to fly around here."

"If you don't admit that you are homeless I will go to my sister and tell her that you have been sleeping with her husband and trust me, then you won't look so good. Or if you would rather take this," she held up a plain white envelope.

"What is that?"

"Your last check. Yeah, sure you've been bringing in the business but it was never about the business for me. I just needed something to do. As a matter of fact, this one is for Heather. When you and her leave, that is, I can change everything back to the way it was before you even showed up."

"What do you want from me, Kathy? My job?"

The dark skinned woman laughed. "No, it's not about the job. I already said that. I want the control around here and with you, I can't get it. Well, if you're not going to go play by the rules that I've set…"

Phoebe held her hand up to stop the woman. "You want me to go out there and announce to everyone that I'm homeless?"

"Yeah, that's what I want you to do. I want everyone to see how much of a phony you are."

"You go ahead and do it. You're obviously enjoying this right now. So go right ahead." Phoebe stepped aside for her to walk through the adjoining door. "Go ahead."

Kathy smirked and went through the doors. "Don't mind if I do."

* * *

Jon was enjoying his time with Heather, but he wondered what was going on with Phoebe since she was in the bar for so long. No one else seemed to be concerned.

As he was about ready to go look for her the swinging door to the bar kitchen opened and out came Phoebe and Kathy. So that was where she had been all this time.

"Matt, I want to tell you something about Phoebe." Kathy said approaching Joe's brother.

Sitting at the table with Matt and Mandy, but so were his parents Patricia and Sika, and they looked at Kathy. Phoebe didn't approach the table, instead she walked towards the bar and pulled out her hoodie she arrived at work in.

"What?" Matt asked as he glanced back towards where Phoebe was.

"Did you know she was homeless?" Kathy asked as she crossed her arms.

The thickness in the air was almost too thick because just about everyone in the place in took a breath. Jon looked at Heather, reached out and grabbed her hand as she was about ready to speak for her friend. Jon watched Phoebe as she draped her hoodie over her arm then and stood in the middle of the bar floor with her head up and straight. She didn't look scared, she didn't look like she felt much of anything as Kathy continued her tirade against the bartender.

"Do you know how much of a mistake it would mean if people found out that a homeless woman was working your bar?" Kathy asked.

Matt hadn't responded. His face was paler now than ever. His eyes scanned over towards Phoebe, who seemed to be on the verge of throwing something- anything- at Kathy's head. But the little spitfire didn't do anything. She did have something to say, though.

"Homeless or not, I still make the bar better than you had." Phoebe said. "So what if I am homeless. I dropped everything in my old life to start over, to start a dream. So what if I do sleep at a homeless shelter. It's not like I swindle away on drugs and alcohol."

"You have no right to even be here." Kathy turned around and looked at Phoebe. "Let me tell you, you and your little friend over there don't fit with us." Jon tensed when she brought Heather into the equation. His hand tightened a little around the smaller hand that was in his, his thumb brushing over the backs of Heather's knuckles.

"Because we're white?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes." Kathy nearly screamed that in Phoebe's face.

And that was the extent of Kathy's stupidity. The family members, even Rochelle, were gobsmacked by what she had just admitted.

That's when Kathy caught onto the mistake she made. "I mean no. You are making me look like the black sheep here."

"You make me feel that way all the time. A job is a team, if the team don't work great together it falls apart. Your cousins are great at what they do. I bet with proper training they will become bad ass bartenders. I worked to get as far as I have. Have you been professionally trained by a mixology school, one of the best in the country. Did you ever work at a bar before?"

"At least I am not some homeless blond white trash bitch." The words dripped out of Kathy's mouth like the venom of a cobra. She wanted those words to hurt and she didn't care if she was digging herself further in a ditch to do it, she enjoyed this new found freedom.

"Look at yourself. A real woman would never disrespect another woman in front of her boss, in front of a great family. As it stands, I quit."

Quit? No, not possible. Jon couldn't believe what he was hearing from Rapunzel. She couldn't possibly quit, not when everything was going right. She had the job she had been wanting. He knew that she and Heather loved this place with all their hearts. Jon wanted to stand up and tell Phoebe she couldn't quit. Actually it was one of the cousins that beat him to it.

"You can't quit." Candace said, making every head turn towards her and the rest of the people at the bar. "You saw something in us."

"You would rather have her boss you around?" Kathy pointed to Phoebe who was already halfway towards the door of the bar.

"At least she tells us we're doing a good job. You never did care to show us anything. At least she's motivated to help make this place better than a second rate dive bar." Katrina said.

"She does not belong here, she does not belong here in this family business. Who would want her at all if she's still married? Not only that, I bet she's sleeping with Joe, Rochelle." Kathy turned towards her sister.

All the tension boiled over as Matt started coughing. It wasn't a little cough but a massive one, one where no air could be breathed. It was a full blown coughing fit. He was grabbing his chest, coughing, sweating. Patricia was at that point near breaking and freaking out as she rubbed her oldest son's back. Mandy was already on the phone and Joe was standing up from his table.

Jon and Heather made their way towards Joe, but one person wasn't there.

"Where's Phoebe?" Jon asked looking around for the long haired woman.

But she wasn't there, she was long gone. All the while Matt was in the throws of a heart attack.

Something needed to be done, something needed to be, Jon couldn't think of the words as he felt Heather grab his arm. She looked at him, lost in her eyes and fear etched on her pretty face.

"Is he?" She asked, not quite sure if she was going to be able to finish that sentence or not.

"I don't know. They are calling the ambulance right now. Only time will tell." He said, draping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side.

It was the best answer he could give at that moment in time.

* * *

** Well, this was not the kind of update I was going to make but it worked out, and I really did make Kathy a bitch, didn't I? **

** So I hope you liked this update even if it was a little, I don't know. Too much tension? Well hopefully I can keep it up for the remainder of this story. I'm not even sure if I am even close to being done yet. But anyway, thanks for reading. Keep the comments coming. So yeah, see you guys at the next one.**

** Oh one more thing before I go, the reason for this update is that tomorrow 3-15-2015 I am crossing over into Portland, Oregon to see a WWE Road to Wrestlemania Event show. Who knows, maybe I will be in the mood to update again tomorrow, just a little later in the day.**


	16. Chapter 16

Phoebe had said that she had never gone to the beach then she had gone there with her friends when it was a happy time. But this time, it was her first time on a beach by herself. Knowing that the beach was not that far from downtown Pensacola, not all that far from Island Boi, Phoebe headed out there. Even with the rain she ended up at the beach standing under a tree along the sidewalk breathing hard. The rain mixed with her tears so that no one knew that she was crying as she stared at the off blue ocean water.

She just left. She knew that leaving when Matt was having a heart attack was not the best thing for her to do, especially when she was sure she caused it with the fight she and Kathy were having. It just meant that she would probably have to go find another place of work, but then what about Malia? What about her schooling? She'd been hired to help the little girl succeed and Phoebe just ran away.

"I screwed up." She mumbled to herself.

"I don't think so." She turned around to look at Jon, as he approached her, ducking his head using the hat to shield his face from the rain. "You didn't want to make things worse."

She nodded. "I guess but then again I forgot that I was still Malia's babysitting tutor. She still needs my help and I ran out on her. And yet I walked away when my boss is having a heart attack."

"No you didn't. You ran out before that bitch could take your job. But I'm not here to talk about that. Heather and Nora are back at the restaurant cleaning up, Matt collapsed after you left."

"What?" She turned to look at Jon. "What do you mean he collapsed?"

Jon had to put his hands on her shoulders. "He stood up from the booth and went out like a light. A few minutes later the EMTs came and they took him to the hospital. I figured you would come here since there isn't anyone out on the rainy day and you didn't have any other place to go."

"Don't remind me. I'm homeless, remember." She bit at him.

He sighed, "Anyway, I also wanted you to know what is going on."

"Thanks." She mumbled as she turned towards the dark gray ocean, the seemed to remind her of Joe's eyes for the briefest of moments.

"You didn't tell them that you were homeless did you?" He asked her.

She nodded, "I did tell Malia that I was homeless. A child shouldn't be lied to and she did ask why I didn't have a car," she said as she ran a hand over her head and looked at the ocean. It was in turmoil, just like Phoebe was at the moment.

"And she told Kathy no doubt. Maybe she told her parents, or grand parents." Jon added to the puzzle. "It doesn't mean Matt would have fired you over not having a permanent residence." He paused. "Hey, I sounded smart for once."

Phoebe took that moment to laugh. She knew he was trying to make her laugh, to make her feel comfortable about the entire situation. It worked, at least for a little bit.

"I know a lot of businesses don't hire homeless people. And I just walked away from it, instead of fighting for it. I just want that back now. But now with Matt, I don't know if I will ever earn his trust because I ran out on him in his time of need."

"I don't think he would be pissed about that. Okay, maybe a little. But come on, he can't blame you. Kathy was being a bitch to you. In front of Rochelle's family."

"Yes he can if he's like any other boss out there that don't like homeless people working for him."

"You don't know that. Come back to the restaurant, Phoebe." Jon coaxed her. "Help Heather and Nora clean up and we'll head back to Heather's place. I don't want you to catch cold out in the rain."

"You don't catch a cold in the rain. It's a bacterial thing, not because of the cold weather." She retorted as she pushed away from the tree. "Fine, I'll head back with you."

She knew she shouldn't have been there but she had no place to go. Going back to Island Boi, even though she was tired and nearly soaked to the bone, Phoebe didn't care. Her mind was a mess of things like Kathy hating her, then there was Danica, who knows what Joe and his family thought of her. Hell, she didn't know what Matt thought and she still had yet to know what his condition was.

"Rapunzel!" Phoebe heard Heather call out as she walked into the door of the bar.

It was strange but relieving to see that Heather was still there. She and Phoebe hugged it out before Heather looked at Jon.

"I'm so glad you got her to come back. Where did you find her?" Heather asked him

"Hey, I'm right here. I went to the beach where we had that group fun day. No one is out there because of the weather. I could be alone with my thoughts." Phoebe shook her head at her friend.

Nora was helping with the clean up since the family had left to go see how Matt was doing. "It's good to see you back. But you need to go to see Matt. I got this."

Candace and Katrina were there also, Phoebe saw them coming out of the kitchen. When they saw her, they tried to be nice about it, but apparently they didn't want to say anything to her that would piss the long haired woman off.

Turning back to Nora, Phoebe shook her head. "I can't."

"Why not?" She asked.

"For one I hate hospitals. For two, I walked out on him."

"But you'll be there. After everything that Kathy said," Heather spoke up.

"And when he was coughing and having a hard time breathing, I wasn't there. I was five feet from the guy who was having a heart attack and did shit to help him." Phoebe couldn't help the anger that was laced in her words.

She felt a sharp tug on her ponytail, which was from Jon yanking on it. "Look, Rapunzel, I'm taking your sorry ass to the hospital whether you like it or not. You need to be there, you need to be back at the house in time for Malia to get home. Shut up and let's go."

Heather nodded. "We got it here, Babe."

"Thanks, Shortcake." He smiled at her, and then he looked more livid at Phoebe. "Go, Durwin."

She gave up once before why not again? It was easy to let Jon win, some times.

* * *

Jon was watching Phoebe as she sat in the passenger side of his rental. She hadn't said anything. Half wet from their walk in the rain from the beach, she huddled in her hoodie. She refused to look at him.

"There is one thing that you need to tell me." He said, feeling his hands gripping the steering wheel.

"What?"

"Are you really married?"

"Yes, but only in the sense that I'm getting a divorce." She tugged at her sleeve slightly, looking out at the window. "I was being abused so I left. I came down here because…it was different."

"Because no one would find you. That was the reason for the scars I saw on your back back at the hotel."

She didn't answer. Phoebe didn't need to, her silence spoke volumes.

"That's the reason why you refused me." Jon added.

"It's hard to refuse something so appealing. But yes, in part because I am still legally married. And secondly, you just like the idea of me. I want someone who won't hurt me, not just physically but emotionally. I've been told I don't fit in anywhere, with anyone. That I am nothing. Just like what Kathy was saying. I just need someone who won't."

"You aren't nothing, Phoebe, far from it."

"I'm not Mary Poppins, I'm not perfect in every way as some people like to think."

"Everyone screws up. I have on more than one occasion. Had to grow up in these last couple of years. Stopped smoking was probably the hardest thing because everyone was telling me that I needed to give it up. Hard when I started smoking back in my teens."

"And now you have that raspy voice that Heather loves so much."

Instantly she slapped her hand over her mouth. Jon looked at her with a shocked expression. It was a good thing they were standing at a set of stop lights.

"Wanna run that by me again, Rapunzel?" He asked calmly.

"You know what I said and I don't want to screw up a third thing today, all right."

"Whatever you say. But Riddle me this, does Heather like me?"

"From what I've seen, yeah, she does. But it's over shadowed by you liking me."

He didn't respond to that, for which Phoebe was grateful. Maybe he was hung up on how unique Phoebe was as a person. She had gorgeous hair, she had a personality that everyone seemed to enjoy and she was right a majority of the time. Her passion could be seen in her work and she made people feel welcomed, or put in their places when they needed to be.

Heather was everything he didn't look for. Sure she was great looking, even in a bikini and Daisy Duke shorts. After she warmed up to him she was able to become someone he actually liked being with. Could he see himself holding her hand? There were other things that needed to be looked into, but at that moment and time, getting Phoebe to the hospital to see Matt was enough for him.

* * *

Joe watched Jordan pace while his brother and sister sat next to their mother. Even Sika, Joe's own father, was pacing uncontrollably in the waiting room. Rochelle was making calls, checking up on Malia, since she had been left with Heather. Though his sister lived out of state, Summer and Vanessa were on their way back to Pensacola to be there for Matt.

It had been another heart attack, something the doctors had threatened would happen again if he wasn't care. He needed to relax but with work on the decline at Island Boi, he had been under a lot of stress. And now with Kathy screwing around with the fate of Phoebe and possibly Heather, it just added onto the layered cake. Like a Janga tower of blocks. He was laying in a hospital bed with an uncertain future ahead of himself.

But his mind went from his brother and then back to Phoebe, Rapunzel as people were starting to call her. She'd left in a hurry, refusing to talk to anyone. If that look on her face could kill, then Rochelle's sister would have been dead a long time ago. Joe couldn't blame her for feeling that way. She was homeless, but she was trying to do what she needed in order to find a place. But to be homeless and not mention it, that was a little hard to come by. She never mentioned it, she didn't even reference it in any of their conversations. It was like she was hiding it.

Overhead, the hospital intercom went off, paging a doctor somewhere for the cardiac unit. That brought Joe back to the waiting room they were in. Uncomfortable chairs and anticipation eating at their skins while trying to wait to see if his brother was even alive.

There was a beep on his phone, indicating that he had a text. It was from Jon saying.

_Found Rapunzel at the beach. Brought her back to Island Boi. Going to Hospital, see you soon_

Well, at least Jon had to foresight to keep him up to date with what was going on. Matt hadn't mentioned the fact that he was having a hard time breathing, that Phoebe was homeless and that his sister in laws were back stabbing bitches, at least Kathy was. Danica was still up in the air at that moment.

"Rochelle," he heard someone say.

It was that Justine chick from the bar. Since Rochelle told him about her and what happened at the wedding, she was yet another woman to stay away from. Justine was half black and half white, she didn't have the dark skin like her sister. Though her hair was longer with large curls than her sister. She dressed to kill in of all things a black mini dress and stiletto heels.

"What are you doing here?" Rochelle asked her half sister.

"Well, Kathy told me what happened. I came to see if you needed some support."

"My husband needs all the support he can get." His wife responded sharply.

Joe saw Justine look his way, towards the wall he had perched himself against while looking out a nearby window. She smiled, wiggled her fingers- right in front of her sister of course- and then looked back at Rochelle.

"I'm here for you. I know how close you are with the Anoa'i family. Isn't that why you married him?" She asked in reference to Joe of course.

"Leave." Rochelle said.

"I have every right to stay here and support you, Rochelle."

From what Joe knew, Rochelle resented her father for sleeping with Justine's mother. But Rochelle and Justine were only born five months apart, with Rochelle being the older sister. So Justine had been jealous of Rochelle for living a finer life than what she had growing up. That included Joe. At least that was how he saw it.

"I don't want you here, Justine. Either you leave or I'm calling security."

Justine pouted. Obviously she was annoyed by what she had been told.

"Fine, but you know that Kathy was only looking out for the best of the family." Justine said, adjusting her near skin tight dress against her thighs before turning and heading out.

"Chelle," Joe said once the disrespectful woman had left.

Without hesitation she walked over to her husband and pressed her head to his shoulder.

Now it was just a waiting game, until the doctors came to tell the family what was going on with Matt. Joe watched Rochelle texting someone on her phone. He couldn't see who it was but whatever was being discussed seemed to have set her on edge. The next ten minutes or so was like that, Rochelle texting periodically while Joe looked out the window with his arm resting around her shoulders.

Close to about fifteen minutes later the doors to the nearby elevators opened up. Joe was mildly shocked to see both Jon and Phoebe walk out of the elevator together. But Phoebe didn't look like she was as much a willing participant as Jon had led on. Phoebe almost looked scared, more ashamed than anything.

"Phoebe, what are you doing here?" Dwayne asked, making just about everyone in the waiting room look at her.

"I felt like an idiot running out like that. I wanted to see if I could come by and pay my respect." She said, meeting his eyes briefly before they came to look at Patricia. "It was wrong of me to do that to your son, ma'am."

His mom made a noise, but not with hate. Joe saw the tears starting to fall again. "Oh honey, none of that matters." His mom made a few quick strides and brought Phoebe into a hug.

Joe couldn't help but smile at the sight. Someone like his mom could see the best in people, in any scenario it seemed. That was his mother, that was the woman who raised him to be who he was.

Watching his father also approach the two of them male Joe smile bigger. He saw his older sisters heading for the small group, even Mandy joined in. Rochelle didn't budge.

"You should go over there, Joe." She said.

"Why?"

"So you can tell her that all of this is okay. It is, isn't it? Aside from the not speaking about being homeless and she's married."

"You don't really believe that do you?" He asked her.

"She should, it's the truth." Phoebe spoke up.

Joe turned to look at her. She had stepped back from his mother's embrace to look at Rochelle and him. The family now really wanted to know what she had to say.

"Running is what I do, it's what I'm good at. I ran away from New York because my husband liked using me as a punching bag, or as a beer bottle target. I run because it keeps me alive one more day. I hid because I know how hard it is to be homeless and get a job. I tried three different places in two different states before I settled down here and found Island Boi. They wouldn't hire me because I was homeless. In a round about way I think that's illegal but then again, most people would agree."

"Not Matt." Patricia said.

"I'm not saying that Matt would, ma'am. But I'm just telling you what has happened to me. That is why I never went for him." She glanced at Jon. "I am technically married, yes, but that doesn't give me the excuse to step out of it. I have much more respect for the marital system to throw it away half haggardly. When my divorce is finalized, it will be the door that I need in my life to go on."

"When will it be finalized?" Joe's sister Summer asked.

"When I get enough money for it. It's costly to go through a divorce. He would just prefer I die than actually go through with the divorce."

Again, Joe watched his mother hug Phoebe. He liked how everyone was so accepting of her, of how she was getting everything that she apparently didn't have before.

Joe felt Rochelle move away from him. He heard her phone go off yet again, a text from someone. She was looking at it, and she frowned.

"Kathy?" He asked.

"What?" She looked at him startled. "Oh, no. Work. But I took today off so I could be with my family."

Clingy and aloof, Rochelle seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

It was about at that moment a nurse walked out. "Are all of you here to see Matt Anoa'i?"

"Yes, we're his family." Sika said as Phoebe slipped away from Patricia's embrace.

"Well he's stable right now, we've got him settled into a room. I'm afraid that only family at this time can go in and see him."

"I need to go pick up Malia." Rochelle mumbled, looking at her phone again.

"You know what, let Phoebe and I do it. We'll bring her back here." Jon said. "I think Phoebe would like some air anyway."

Joe nodded. "Yeah, that would be helpful."

Patricia insisted on hugging Phoebe one more time before she followed the nurse back with Sika to see Matt. Jon and Phoebe left after that. Would it have seem bad to say that Joe was happy to see Phoebe leave? He didn't think so. He didn't want to think about her while his brother was having heart problems. Or was that just what he wished he thought watching the elevator doors close behind her and Jon.

No matter how much he wanted to understand why he both wanted her there and to be gone at the same time.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked this update. It was good, wasn't it? I'm actually really proud of it.**

**And I went to the Live Event yesterday on 3-15-2015 and I loved it. The one and only good Roman picture that I got is now this story's cover picture.**


	17. Chapter 17

The last thing Phoebe had heard about Matt's condition was that he was stable and resting at the hospital. He had another- luckily- mild heart attack and they had caught it in time. It was later on Monday when Phoebe came by to see Matt again because of tending to the bar. She didn't have a lot of money to get him a get well gift so she brought something inexpensive from the theme of his restaurant. A simple sea shell.

As she stood at his door to the hospital room, she felt the odd one out. But what was replaying in her mind was from earlier on Friday morning, the day after Matt had gone into the hospital with his heart attack.

"You can stay at my place while I'm gone." She remembered Heather saying that morning.

"Gone? Where are you going?" She looked at the suitcase that Heather had been packing.

"I suggested to Jon that he take me out to do something together. After I went to see Matt yesterday, I popped the question to Jon. He said he would, only it involved Las Vegas."

"You're going to Las Vegas?"

"Yeah, because Jon is taking over Joe's spot in the show, he has to leave for Vegas sooner than expected and he got me a ticket. I know I should stay here but with Matt out of action and this sudden change in Jon's work schedule, I hope Matt will understand me not visiting him. I was going to visit my sister, Iris."

Phoebe smiled. "I don't think he'll be mad. After everything that happened, you and I both need a break from the bar scene."

"If you need anything just call. I left some money for food in that cookie jar on the counter in the kitchen so you don't have to go hungry and there is stuff for you to make food. This way you can have my bed to sleep in and you won't have to spend time down at the shelter every day."

Well she had Phoebe there.

"So I'm just going to stay here and watch your apartment while you're gone, for how long?"

Heather shrugged as she continued to put cloths in the suitcase. "I don't know, actually."

"Well, have a fun time. Remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

How true were her words for that.

No less than a few days later, Phoebe was standing in a hospital room door watching Matt sleep. She saw his mother Patricia there, his father Sika and Joe had brought Malia from school straight to the hospital. Actually Joe was the reason why she was there at all.

"I drew Uncle Matt a get well picture during class today." Malia said putting it on the hospital tray next to the bed.

Matt looked pale and he had one of those oxygen nose things in helping him breathe better air. He'd been asleep the entire time Phoebe had been there. He had been awake before that but she had yet to see that.

"You know you can come in, Phoebe." Joe said, making his parents look towards the door.

She wore that white dress, the one Heather let her borrow, along with the shoes Heather let her have. Her hair was braided in one long ponytail and she played around with the sea shell in her hand. It still felt like it was her fault any of this happened.

"Come here." Patricia said opening her arms towards the younger woman. "It's good to see you back again."

Stepping up to the older woman, Phoebe could see where Joe got his gray eyes. She had the same kind of gray eyes he had, compared to Phoebe's own light sky blue eyes. The frizzy Samoan hair came from his father, whose own hair was short rather than long like Joe's.

"I'm glad I was able to get here, too." She said, giving a one armed hug to the woman.

Sure she was slight in height, barely reaching a few inches over five feet tall, but she was still shorter than Patricia was. Her chin rested on his mother's shoulder with a lot of effort not to strangle herself.

"You have no idea how proud you made Matt." Patricia said. "I'm sure that when he wakes up he'll say just that."

"That would sound good to me." She responded meekly, catching a glance at Malia who was holding Joe's hand and watching her grandparents welcome Phoebe into the family.

"Bet you know all about Matt's past heart issues." Sika said after he hugged the stuffing out of the girl as well.

She managed to shake her head. "No, sir, I didn't. I was never really familiar with your family from the beginning. But I saw the signs, even if he brushed off my concerns."

He furrowed his brows. "Really? Seems a little different than what we usually deal with."

She wondered what that was supposed to mean. Maybe he saw her confused look because he went on to explain.

"It's the stuff with the WWE. Usually everyone would know our business or family history."

"Oh, um," she passed a glance at Joe, hoping for some help. "Well, even though I know that now I'm still more interested in helping Matt with his business. He gave me a chance when not a lot of other people would."

"Being homeless? Rochelle told us that you mentioned that to Malia." Patricia said.

"I'm not mad at the little girl, actually she had a lot of bravery to tell someone when I didn't want anyone to know. You hear homeless and you think of the people that drink themselves poor, substance abuse. I ran away." Phoebe found herself looking at Malia who wasn't paying attention to what the adults were saying.

"From what?" Patricia inquired.

"The abuse I suffered." She didn't elaborate on that. "I used up the little money I had, went where the dart fell and I came here. I started out taking temp jobs, odd jobs but then I started in on bartending jobs until I came upon Island Boi. That's pretty much how I came to be here in Pensacola."

Suddenly, Malia spoke up. "Grandma, can I get a juice?" She asked.

"You know what, so would I." Sika said. "You two stay here with Matt. We're going to cafeteria for a snack."

"Sure." Joe said.

Watching his daughter and parents leave the room, Joe chanced it and spied Phoebe standing nearer to his brother. She held her hands together in front of her, her hands grasping the sea shell she had brought from the beach as she looked at him. There was hardly any expression on her face, it was hard for Joe to read what she was thinking.

Almost silently, Joe walked up to Phoebe. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, gently brushing her arm with the back of his hand.

She jerked away slightly, looked down. "Just memories, some worse than others."

"Do you want to talk about them?"

"Not at the moment." She stepped around him and headed for where the other get well gifts were line up on the window sill, most potted plants. A lot of them were orchids, and deciding to place the white shell in the purple orchid pot she looked back at Matt. "Wish my older brother Ken was like your brother."

Joe wasn't sure if she was talking to him about Matt or if she was talking to Matt about Joe. At this point he opted not to say anything.

"Where's Matt's children?" That time she asked Joe the question, looking at him as she did so.

"They went home with their mother. They've been here most of the night and she kept them out of school." He said.

"And Rochelle?"

"I figured she would take some time off of work but she didn't. Ever since that shift change work has been very demanding on her. That is why I have Malia today. I got her off the bus and came here straight afterward."

She walked back towards the open part of the room, her eyes casting looks towards Matt in the bed. She had started to grow fond of him in the time she had been at Island Boi Bar. It was a fondness that she didn't really have with anyone else in her early life. Phoebe still thought that he would hate her for walking out the way she did when he did suffer the heart attack.

"Heather went to Las Vegas with Jon." Phoebe glanced at Joe. "She would have come by to see Matt but this was a last minute thing. She's letting me stay at her place as a home sitter."

"She didn't want you staying at the Shelter. I wouldn't blame her."

"It's not like I haven't done it. I have in the past, even as a kid I would stay in homeless shelters because of life. You wouldn't understand."

"Wanna try me?" Joe asked, finding himself walking towards her.

"You had it easy. You had a great family. A great older brother I'm sure who looked out for you." She motioned towards Matt. "I didn't. Mom and Dad were often drunk. I remembered going to two schools in one year in two different states, Utah and Colorado, because Dad couldn't keep a job because he drank too much. We'd live in trailers, sleep in cars. When he did manage to get a job it was all the way in New York City, in the projects of the Bronx. It got worse at home by my teens that I started sleeping at teen homeless shelters just so I wouldn't get put back in the hospital." She admitted. "I'd be where he is and no one cared." She pointed towards Matt.

In the next moment, for the first time since they had met, Phoebe found herself in Joe's arms. His hands pressed into the back of her head so that she was laying her cheek against his chest. At first it was a shock. To feel this man, with whom she barely knew, holding her and his face pressing into the top of her head just didn't seem right. But then it was evident, even though she wasn't mourning, he was. He was trying to ease the pain that still seeped into her existence from time to time.

As weak as she felt, as small and fragile Phoebe thought she was at that moment, her hand came to rest on his hip. That was the only thing she managed to do, because it was the only logical action her brain allowed her to take.

"Now you have people to care for you."

"Sure didn't feel like it before." Phoebe mumbled, eyes closed and absently running her thumb against Joe's t-shirt.

He pulled her back, looking down at her. "You're never going back to being unwanted, Phoebe. Now you're around us, you'll never be forgotten about."

She sighed, nodding. Not because that was the thing to do, but because she knew he was telling the truth. For whatever reason, she knew that she meant something to this family.

"I need some air. I think I'll just go back to Heather's place and relax."

"When Malia gets back…"

She held up her hand, stopping Joe from speaking. "No, that won't be necessary. I've got a bus pass and right now I need some time to think, to figure out what I'm going to do with myself. I'll probably be over tomorrow to tutor Malia. And if Matt wakes up before then, tell him Phoebe and Heather both wish him to get better."

"Okay." Joe didn't know what else to say about that.

She then cast one more glimpse at him and then left the room, making sure not to draw much attention form anyone on the way out of the hospital.

* * *

Joe was amazed that true to her word, Phoebe showed up at his house the next day to get Malia off the bus. He was not expecting her to show up in what he would call the Dean Ambrose look. Jeans, a tank top, though she opted for sneakers instead of the boots Jon would wear to the ring. Her hair was long and free as she walked up the walkway.

"Hi, Joe." She said, but he vaguely heard her.

She was down right breath taking in her simple look, her small stature was dwarfed by the hair that trailed behind her. As the wind tickled it, she walked up to the steps to Joe's house.

"Joe? Are you okay?" She asked, standing a step below him.

Closing his eyes briefly, he smiled and looked at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just so you know when Rochelle gets home we're going to the hospital to see Matt. He's finally woken up."

When Phoebe smiled, there was a sudden kick in his chest. It was like Joe suffered a punch from someone like Big Show in the ring but this was different. She just didn't know what she was doing to him, hell even he didn't know what she was doing to him.

"Is he better?"

"Yeah, he is." Joe leaned against the front railing on the porch waiting for the yellow school bus to drive on by. "He appreciated you dropping by the other day. He mentioned something about changing something but he needs you to be honest with him."

"With what?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But that's what he said when you left this morning. He's sitting up, still wheezing with his words but he's not as pale as he had been. I think he worked himself over time with the restaurant lately. Worrying about the bar didn't help much."

She stepped up onto the porch and stood on the other side of him. Phoebe leaned against the railing and her long hair fell over her shoulder, cascading down onto the railing. Now she did really look like Rapunzel.

"It sucks being twenty-one." She said suddenly. "I haven't lived long, you know. I still have stuff I wish I could do but I'm scared to do them."

"Like what?"

"I've been hurt by people, my dad, a husband I thought I could trust my life with but that all went to hell in a hand basket real fast. I dated Fred when he came to the bar I was temping at in Manhattan. I thought he was great, charming, until I found out that he liked to drink a lot."

"Don't you find it kind of funny, though. You want to work at a bar, you want to own your own bar but you cater to people like him."

"I want to keep my job and my personal life separate. I mean isn't that what you do, Joe?" She looked at him.

He had to fight with himself not to tuck that chunk of hair behind her ear. He wanted to touch her hair, ever since smelling it the other day. Joe wanted to smell her hair, which was stupid. He kept reminding himself that he had Rochelle. He had the life he worked so hard at keeping. And here was that alluring woman that came in without a care in the world and she was turning it upside down for him.

"Joe?" She touched his right arm slightly.

"What?" He asked, breaking his gaze on her.

"Weren't you listening?" She took her hand away.

He took a shaky breath and instantly wished he didn't. Now he could smell her hair. It was like a spell that was encircling his mind as he felt himself leaning down further, looking at her sky colored eyes.

Phoebe leaned away from him. "If you think about kissing me, I will deck you one, Joe Anoa'i." She stated sharply.

She stood up straight, tossing her hair over her shoulder and then walked away from him. The reason, not just because of him but because of the yellow bus that was coming to a stop at the stop sign up the road. Joe watched as the little dark haired girl practically jumped off the bus and ran straight into Phoebe's arms.

The long haired woman was just perfect for some reason. She had the mind to step away from him when he was about to ruin his life with Rochelle and she threatened bodily harm on him. That was something he'd never really though possible. As he watched Phoebe and Malia walk up the front steps, she refused to even acknowledge him while Malia happily hugged him in welcoming.

"Hi, Daddy! When do you go back to work?" She asked.

"Soon, now that Uncle Matt is up. When Mommy comes home from work we're going to see him in the hospital." He said, glancing over her head as Phoebe walked into the house.

* * *

Phoebe smiled at Malia as she checked over her math packet. "Everything is correct, Lia."

Malia squealed and jumped into Phoebe's arms. "Yes, yes. Thank you for helping me, Rapunzel." Taking the packet from Phoebe, the young girl ran out of the kitchen.

Phoebe followed Malia as the little girl ran up to her father. Joe was standing in the front room polishing the floors in his bare feet. His hair was bunched up under the nape of his neck and he wore simple jeans and a muscle shirt. She figured that was his cleaning attire.

She flushed when he looked up when Malia came in. "Daddy, look, I got my homework all right."

He leaned the polish mop against the wall and took the packet of paper from Malia. "Really? Are you getting your subtractions and multiplications okay?"

"Yep, I started paying attention to Mrs. Gardener when she started teaching it. I really like it, Daddy. Phoebe is a good teacher."

"And I thought you wanted to be a bartender." Joe glanced at her.

She shrugged, running her right hand over the bumpy back of her left arm. "At one point in time I wanted to teach math to kids. But then I really found my calling as a bartender."

Glancing at the clock, which was going on to five in the afternoon, Joe sighed. "Where is your mother. I thought she was supposed to get off at four or something like that."

She was an hour late, Phoebe noted. That had been happening when she was there to tend to Malia. Her shift at the bar was at five but she would get in at six and have to hurry to get everything in order. Now with Heather gone she needed all the help she could get, so she had started training Candace and Katrina the finer points of making the simplest shots to help with the onslaught of customers coming in.

"I don't know but I will have to be leaving soon so that I can get to work on time. Do you think you have it under control here?" Phoebe asked Joe.

"Yeah, I do. Why don't we go drop you off that way we can get going to the hospital. I don't want to be waiting on Rochelle all day."

"If that's what you want, Joe, then I don't mind."

She didn't care. The sooner she got away from Joe the better because at that moment, Phoebe didn't feel safe with him alone. Not that he was going to hurt her but she didn't feel comfortable for one thing or another.

Probably because he tried to kiss her on his front porch. Phoebe didn't want Joe to throw away his life with Rochelle and screw around with Malia's happiness by ruining all of it with infidelity.

That's the last thing Phoebe wanted to happen, to be the one to ruin Joe's life.

* * *

**Hope you guys liked this update. I also wanted to let you know that I won't be able to update for a while because I am having some things come up and I won't be able to focus on this story. I promise I'll be back with it soon but there are things going on in my life that need to be handled first. Thanks for reading, everyone, I appreciate it.**


	18. Chapter 18

While Matt was laying in the bed, talking to his children, and Malia, Phoebe stood back. She watched the family, amazed at how close they were. Suddenly she felt someone behind her, glancing over her shoulder she had to strain her neck up to see Dwayne properly.

"Hey, glad to see that you came by." He said leaning on the door.

She smiled and nodded, while going back to the family in the hospital room. "I was here yesterday. Matt asked to talk to me about something. I'm just waiting for his family to have their together time."

"How are you doing?" He asked.

"Well, okay I guess. Heather is out of town, going to Las Vegas to spend some time with her sister. She told me to watch her apartment. She didn't want me to stay at the shelter."

"I wouldn't blame her."

There was a pause in the conversation as they watched Matt kiss his daughter's head. Phoebe rested her head against what she thought was the door jam, only to find that it was Dwayne's chest. Not that he cared it looked like. He continued to watch his cousin, arm resting above Phoebe's head.

One of the things that played through her head was the fact that Joe tried to kiss her. Phoebe was glad that she was able to stop him otherwise she would have felt bad. So not really talking to him was the best option she had when it came to that day. She was sure that if he did touch her then she would have done something she didn't want to do. She didn't want to be what they call a ring rat, not that she knew what that meant. Maybe it was a wrestling term.

"Hey, Phoebe." Matt said once he'd seen her.

She pushed away from the door and stood at the foot of the bed. "Hey, Matt. How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Better, thank you for asking. I actually wanted to talk to you about work."

From the corner of her eye she saw Rochelle tense up. She knew her sisters and cousins messed up, but she didn't know what had happened with Danica, Kathy, Katrina and Candace, nor did she ask about them.

"I need help with the restaurant and the bar." Matt told her, adjusting himself in the bed. "I won't be coming in for a while and with Kathy and not working there anymore I need someone I can trust, someone that I know will do the right thing for the bar. Do what you have to do to make it a place."

"It needs to be overhauled." She said reaching behind her back to twirl a piece of her corn blond hair around her finger.

"And for what it's worth, I think you need to make the bar separate from the restaurant. Island Boi as a restaurant is great for a family setting but the bar needs to be cut off from it."

"Whatever needs to be done, do it. You're now the general manager, you make it work. You need money to do it then you come to me." He said. "You're the best thing to happen to that bar."

"You'll agree to go with what I say needs to be done. Bringing in food to eat. There is that unused kitchen in the back so we don't go to the restaurant kitchen."

He nodded at her. "Yes, anything."

"It's just Heather and me right now, but Heather is with her sister in Las Vegas. I need to hire qualified bartenders and a cook staff, also qualified. Besides Candace and Katrina working as wait staff, I think we may need more to keep up with the demand of booze and food."

Matt smiled. "Then do it. I still need to work on the restaurant, though."

"Nora seems capable of being a general manager. She helped me when you were taking a break." Phoebe pointed out.

"Yeah, I have every intention of making her the GM instead of Danica. I wanted this to be a family run place, ran by family. But…" he rubbed his head.

"It works some times, Matt. But most of the time, when it's a job, you need to have people that can carry their own weight and get the job done. I tried my darndest to prove that I could work there, and I have if you're giving me the official GM spot. I appreciate you, plain and simple. You're one great guy. There's just things that need to be done to make this work for us, as a team. And I want to do the best that I can for you."

She had to be sincere and this was sincere. His family seemed to appreciate what she had said, they seemed to be happy with her conviction of wanting to help turn the bar around for the sake of Matt. He himself looked it too.

"I uh should be going. I have to go do some things, like figure out what needs to be done to improve said bar. You guys have a nice day, and don't let him stress out about anything. I'll be back later to check up on you, Matt."

"I'll be waiting." He said.

Phoebe got out of there as fast as she could, not only because she felt maybe she was the odd one out but because of Joe. She had seen the way he was looking at her. And for what it was worth she didn't like it. She didn't like that almost pining look he had.

"What's the hurry, Rapunzel?" She looked up when Dwayne approached the hospital elevator she was standing in front of.

"Bad experiences in my life." She thought quickly. "Hospitals creep me out."

"Surgeries you had to have?"

"Accidents that weren't accidents." She said as the door opened.

The tall man stepped onto the elevator with her, watching her through the reflection of the metal door. She was well aware that he was watching her.

Dwayne turned her slightly so that she was looking at him. "You were attacked?"

She nodded but then shrugged. "I had a crappy childhood. Drunk father that would beat me. An ex I thought was nothing like my dad but turns out they had the same issues with alcohol. Which is why I became a bartender. I could control it, I controlled the drinks."

Phoebe knew she was really BSing, her issues were with Joe. Sh couldn't stop thinking about how much she would have liked to kiss Joe, to know what it was like to be enveloped by warmth that wasn't going to hurt her. That pain was deep seated and it was just, it was hard to describe it. She was married, legally but emotionally she divorced herself from the situation when she ran to Florida.

"Do you want me to take you to Island Boi?" Dwayne asked breaking into her thoughts of her crappy life.

"I just said that so I could get out of there. I'm heading back to Heather's apartment to relax. I helped Malia with her math homework, the job is out of the way for now. I'll probably just skip on in, take inventory and start whatever that I need to do." She said as the doors opened on the main floor of the hospital.

Outside it was sunny, a blissful day unlike the day that had happened when her whole world collided together. Absently Phoebe ran her fingers through her hair and sighed as the cool wind hit her in the face. It was a new day, it was a better day since Kathy was out of the bar scene. But still, now her dream had come true, she was going to run a bar to her standards and she had so much to do in the time to get it up and working again.

"I can take you where you need to go." Dwayne said, glancing down at her.

Phoebe shrugged. "I don't want to be a bother."

"You haven't been."

Cousin of Roman Reigns, he was a really good looking man. That need to be with a man, to be with someone who just didn't want to hurt her really did hurt her emotionally, plagued at Phoebe. Even if nothing came out of it, Phoebe knew it would be better than everything she had to put up with. A marriage that didn't go anywhere, a family that didn't care and yet here she was, submerged in a tight family that looked out for each other.

The issue was her standards and her morals. She had too much respect for the marriage game that she knew she couldn't betray her own standards.

He touched her back and motioned towards the large SUV that was parked in the visitor parking area. "Come on, let's get out of here for a while."

Who knew a little bit later that she would get to know Dwayne on a more personal level.

* * *

Joe was pacing frantically in the living room. He knew he had screwed it up with Phoebe. But he couldn't help it. No matter how much he tried he couldn't get her out of his head.

Malia and Rochelle were getting ready for bed, the little girl having school the next day. How could he be so damn selfish, wanting both Rochelle and Phoebe. He tried, he knew he tried but there was no way he was going to ignore Phoebe, especially when she worked for his brother.

Phoebe was great, was a great person. She had everything in her line of sight. She had that want and need to succeed. She had the passion, he could tell when she spoke. She wanted the bar to succeed, if that means changing it then she was going to do that, for the better of the bar, for the better of Matt and his family.

And then there was Joe and his appeal for her.

"Joe, are you okay?" He looked up when hearing his wife coming down the stairs.

"Uh, yeah, babe, I am. Just thinking about stuff."

"Matt's going to pull through." Rochelle walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissing him. "Our baby girl is asleep, Joe. How about we go to sleep too? Or not, your decision." She smiled at him.

Anything, anything to get Phoebe out of his head.

But even that didn't work. A long time later, while Rochelle was sleeping off the mattress wrestling match they had gone through, Joe got up in the middle of the night. He didn't have to leave for the road until later in the evening. He went downstairs and into the kitchen, opening the door for a bottle of water.

Joe didn't want to admit it to himself, as he making love to Rochelle he imagined what it would feel like to be with Phoebe. He wondered what sort of kinky things she would do with her hair, he wondered if she would be tight…yeah not going there, he shook his head as he took a drink of the water.

"Why?" He mumbled. "Why? I've worked so hard to keep faithful with Rochelle, to ignore the women in my life that throw themselves at me. Phoebe has never, would never, tempt me away from Chelle." He said out loud, looking at the ceiling as he did so. "So why the hell am I even thinking about her?"

Finishing off the water bottle, there was a beep from the cell phone he had brought down with him.

**_~Sup, Uce?~_** It was from Jon.

**_~Nothing.~_** He replied.

**_~How's Matt?~_**

_**~Better.~**_

The next thing that came up with a picture. Granted Jon was not the best there was with electronics yet sometimes he figured out how to send text messages okay and some even had picture. Just like this one. But the picture that was sent was one that he had not expected to see.

There was Heather, laying in Jon's bed and her back to him. It was obvious what happened, much like what happened between Joe and Rochelle earlier in the night. Her hair was messed up and from the looks of the bed, Jon showed her the finer things that he did when he was with a woman.

**_~So you got lucky with Heather?~_** Joe texted his friend.

**_~Yep :)~_** As corny as it was to see that smiley face emoticon Joe was confused about something.

_**~I thought you liked Phoebe.~**_ Joe texted as he went into the dimly lit front room.

There was a pause in the texting. Joe knew Jon hated technology, he didn't care for social media, at least not like Joe and Colby.

_**~I did but then, wow.~** _Jon wrote. **_~She admitted that she had feelings for me and truth be told, I like how she is comfortable around me.~_**

Joe laughed to himself. Of course Jon's warped personality differed from what he was writing in the text messages. He had not ever really showed an interest in women, except for the one that he was sleeping with before Phoebe and Heather began working at the bar. So seeing that Jon had moderately found himself in a relationship, it was kind of strange to see that he revealed it through a text message.

_**~Are you sure you didn't just get her drunk and you slept with her. Heather doesn't seem to be the kind you would go for.~**_

Then the idea of what was going on around him. Was Jon going to move back to the muggy hell of Florida to be with Heather? Would Heather go to Las Vegas to be with Jon? Where was Phoebe going to live if that were to happen? Would she be okay.

Shaking his head, Joe sent Jon a text.

_**~Have to go to bed~**_ Joe told Jon. **_~I gotta get ready to leave tomorrow. Malia hates me.~_**

_**~Why?~**_

_**~Leaving hurts. Night, Uce.~**_

Joe turned off his phone and went upstairs.

There was Rochelle, the love of his life, laying right where he had left her in the bed. She looked peaceful, his queen. She shifted in her sleep as he climbed back into bed.

"Where'd you go?" She mumbled resting her head on his shoulder.

"Couldn't sleep. Jon texted me."

"He grab another girl?" She asked reaching up and rubbing Joe's cheek.

"Pretty much. It was Heather this time."

She laughed tiredly. Her cell phone, which had been charging on her night stand table, beeped alerting to a text.

"Who would be texting you at this time of night?" Joe asked reaching over Rochelle.

She swatted at his arm. "Joe, it's really none of your business. It's probably just one of my sisters. And since when does Jon text anyway?" She turned over and glanced at her phone before shutting it off. "Yeah, it was just Kathy on a rampage about what happened. Even our cousins are having issues with her. Now, let's go back to sleep." She rolled back over to face Joe.

Rochelle adjusted her head on his shoulder before falling asleep with her hand still cupping his face.

Tiredly, he took her hand off him and stared at the ceiling.

He didn't want to think about Phoebe, he didn't want to ruin the dream he had created for his life. But that wasn't possible. She was there, just like Rapunzel from Tangled as she smiled at him.

That was the last thing Joe saw as he slipped into sleep.

* * *

** I know it's been a while, but I have been hard at work with another story that I have decided to work on for you guys. Also, I'm sorry if this wasn't as long as some of my other updates for this story. But I promise it gets a little better the longer this thing goes on. So thanks for reading and you'll hear from me again soon. **


	19. Chapter 19

Joe hadn't been back to Pensacola in about two weeks. His wrestling work was hard, especially with Wrestlmania coming up in April, he saw Colby and Jon a lot more than usual and even the house shows were starting to mount for him. It had been a while since he had to wrestle on a Sunday.

He knew he should have told Rochelle what he was doing but he needed to see how things were. Sure after everything that happened with the family gathering at the bar and the fact that no longer Rochelle's sister was working there and her cousins actually growing up since then, he wanted to see how everything was holding up. The moment he got off the plane, he got in his car and headed to downtown Pensacola, the location of Island Boi BBQ and Bar.

There was a sign advertising for the bar part of Island Boi, when there hadn't been. It was a neon sign with a picture of a palm tree, beach and ocean water. A large blue cocktail with Island Boi Bar written into the glass was the focal point of the sign. That must have been the renowned Samoan Drop that was vastly becoming popular around the area.

Opening the door, since it was usually unlocked during the day even if it didn't open until evening time, Joe walked in. He scanned the place and found no one there. Which was odd, he'd figured that someone would be there. As he waited for someone to come around, Joe looked around the bar.

There were changes, like new lower backed bar stools, tall tables floating around in the middle of the room. The walls looked like slats from beach houses from Hawaii. And up on the wall were old framed pictures of the history of the Anoa'i family, from when his grandfather came from Hawaii to the mainland. Old pictures of Rakishi, the Rock and even several of Joe, both in his NFL days and in his wrestling career. He knew that this had to be Phoebe's doing. The place looked like it was new, nearly brand new with sea blue, there was a new looking back bar, where a fish tank was, with tropical fish. Joe found himself stepping up to the bar and looking at the fish.

It was a tropical tank, fairly big with several different tank items in it. A yellow rubber ducky with bubbles coming out of it's butt, that had to be for Jon's new favorite shooters called Duck Farts. Then there was the cocktail glass that was famous for the Blue Hawaiian drink, the Samoan Drop that was the center piece of the whole thing.

"A tropical themed bar needs tropical fish." He heard her say from behind him.

So much about the bar had change from the time that he last had been there. Phoebe didn't change. She wore the same uniform that she always did, the short shorts and the tank tops with her hair in a braided ponytail. She was standing feet from him with a look that made his heart clench in his chest.

She was not happy to see him, and it was written as plain as day on her face.

"What are you doing here, Joe?" She asked as she moved to the bar.

"I heard that there were changes to the bar, so I came to see them."  
She shook her head. "No, you're not here because of the bar." She said, looking at him with a hurtful expression. Her lips thinned slightly because he could see her biting the inside of her lower lip. "You came here because of me."

"Did you sleep with Dwayne?"

There, he caught it. He caught the shock expression that blinded into her hurt eyes. It was true, what his cousins had been saying. Dwayne, though not married, had a few girlfriends in his time since his divorce from Dany. He could not believe that the family rumors were true, that she had slept with Dwayne at all. That didn't seem like her.

"What's it to you on who I do or do not sleep with? And there's many different meanings to sleeping with someone. Maybe nothing happened and we just shared a bed for a night because it was late."

"Or you could have played horizontal tango on a mattress all night."

Again, he could see that he had caught her. She wouldn't look at him. Her gaze fell to the floor and then she looked up at him, but not in the eyes.

"So are you and Dwayne together now? You do know his daughter is only seven years younger than you." Joe goaded her.

Phoebe's eyes raised very slowly towards his. "I was hurt, Joe. God, I am attracted to you. I hadn't been with a man in months because the last one put me in the hospital. I needed a man that would be gentle with me, who would take care of me. You are out of the option because I don't trust you with me around. I don't step over the bonds of marriage, you giant gorilla. I needed something, something that would make me forget how I nearly broke Rochelle's trust in me. I adore your little girl, she is the sweetest thing that I have been around in a long time. I just needed someone who could tend to my needs. One time, that's all."

Her rant hit the nerves in Joe's heart, making him suck in a breath.

"I don't want you coming around when the bar isn't open." Phoebe said, which caused his heart to shatter. Her voice, her happy voice that had drawn him in, was now laced with venom. She didn't look at him, she didn't try to reason with him on anything. She was laying out the rules and he was going to follow them. At least that was what she wanted.

"No." He hitched a leg over one of the bar stools and sat down while crossing his arms and leaning on the bar. "I'm welcomed around here when I want."

She walked back around the bar and stood just to his side.

* * *

Tugging at her braid, Phoebe stalked around the bar to stand at the side of Joe. He merely turned towards her, challenging her to do something with a smug smirk that oozed sexually at her. He was a large man, large arms and a big barreled chest. His neck was huge, and recently he had cleaned up his facial hair trimming it neatly into a goatee and matching mustache, he had the ability to make a woman melt.

But not this woman. Phoebe would be damned to know that she was the cause of a divorce in a couple's relationship that was close to her. She would be damned to let this guy, this man of men, break up with his wife to go for a newer model, not that she was a model. Even sitting down he was still able to look down at her as she crossed her arms in defiance to the look he was giving her. He was challenging her, she knew that. He wanted her to break so he wouldn't be the only one.

"Get out, Joe." She said pointing to the door.

"No." He responded.

Her breathing sharpened to a fine point, and wishing she hadn't. He smelled good.

"Get out of here." She said through clenched teeth.

Again, he remained sitting. "No," he added with a tweek of a small grin.

The anger that was boiling inside of her caused her to snap. Joe was sitting further back in the seat, most of his weight was back there. Uncrossing her arms, Phoebe shoved him, causing Joe and the seat to tilt back but the shove wasn't enough do much of anything. Besides anger the dog.

Joe stood up, his body inches from Phoebe's. He looked as pissed as she had been but now she was the scared one and as she went to step back Joe, grabbed her by the arms. Not painfully enough to leave marks but there was pressure there as his thumbs and fingers easily circled her upper arms.

"What the hell is wrong with you."

"What the hell is wrong with me? What the hell is wrong with you?" She struggled against his grip, wincing at the fact that in his grip while she was pulling Phoebe knew she was going to have at least faint bruises afterward. "You are pining over me, Joe. You have a wife, you have a daughter, I don't want to be the other woman. I know what it's like to feel cheated on. My own husband had to literally dump me down a flight of stairs so that he could be with some chick who I thought was my friend. He hurt me physically, shoving me down stairs. I don't want what happened to me to happen to Rochelle, your WIFE!" She yelled at his face.

He wanted her to shut up, he wanted her to stop talking. She was making all the sense in the world when all his mind was telling him was to claim her mouth to shut her up.

Joe listened to his own mind rather than the woman that was yelling at him.

He leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers, forcing her to stay there by releasing one arm and grabbing the back of her head. Now with one arm free she was hitting him, trying to break the hold he had on her head. Joe surged forward with renewed energy, feeling the rush she had on his body, biting her lower lip even as she struggled to move away.

Phoebe was a fighter, no doubt in that. And she did fight back. As if with some renewed destiny, she hooked her thumb up under Joe's jaw and pressed up. Because she was putting pressure on his artery and the other anatomy of the throat, it was the reason why he had to stop kissing her.

Joe grumbled in pain, releasing her. This gave Phoebe enough time to put distance between Joe and herself, leaving him standing next to the bar and her hand going to her shorts.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She demanded, pulling out her phone.

As Joe rubbed his slightly sore throat, he looked at her. "Tell me you liked it."

"No." But she didn't say it with a strong enough voice. She had liked it, too much for her own good.

"Tell me you liked it, Phoebe." He took two steps towards her, the pain she inflicted gone now.

Cursing at the fact that she was in the bar alone, Heather not slated to come in to help set up for the night for a few more hours, Phoebe tried to put one of the tables between Joe and herself.

"Tell me." He growled, slamming his hands on the table.

"Why do you want to know? What's so important that you want to know if I liked kissing you or not?" She was near crying now, her hand gripping her little crappy phone preparing to call someone, anyone, for help.

"Because, I know you like me. I know I liked it. I know I want to do it again and again…"  
"But you are married, Joe. Look at your left hand." She urged.

The temptation of just giving up to him was swirling around in her head. But she lived by morals and standards. She walked out on them once before with Dwayne, just to get the stress out of her system. But Dwayne wasn't married, Joe was and that was the one thing she didn't want to deal with.

"Joe, just leave. You're hurting me." She said, feeling the tears starting to slide down her face now. "I don't want to ruin everything that I have worked so hard for."

At just the sight of her begging him to leave her alone, seeing the tears, that instinct to take her was diminished.

What had he done, what had he just done?

Staring down at Phoebe, who was begging him with those pale blue eyes, seeing that he was the reason why she was crying Joe instantly took a step back.

She had hoped he would. Phoebe watched Joe step back, still staring at her. It was a good minute later that he turned and left without much of a word to her. After he had let the door close behind her, Phoebe ran to it, sliding the key into the lock locking the door before sliding down it. Phoebe sat on the floor, her face pressed into her hands and continued to cry.

Phoebe didn't know what to do, she didn't know what to think. Joe ruined himself, possibly his marriage for that matter but Phoebe decided a while back she was not going to get involved with another man.

That night with Dwayne had been healing for her, even if nothing came out of it. He treated her like she wanted a man to treat her and he knew she didn't want anything from it, he knew he was helping her.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open, she looked up and realized she had to continue going. Let Joe screw things up in his own life.

"I'm not going let another man, anymore men ruin my life." She proclaimed to no one but herself as she stood up, fiercely wiping her eyes. "I have work to do."

She unlocked the door for the other bartenders and then headed towards the kitchen area to begin prepping for the night ahead of her.

* * *

He finally did it. He finally acted on what he was doing. He kissed Phoebe.

Joe slammed his hands on the steering wheel several hard times as he sat in the car he rode in on. He liked it too damn much.

His stormy gray eyes stared at the bar, the place his brother worked to accomplish. It had looked better, it had the quality that Matt needed now. He had Phoebe in a place where she was happiest and Joe knew he screwed that up. She told him to leave, to leave her alone basically but did he? No he didn't. He trapped her, he hunted her like an animal and forced her to kiss him. And what was worse he liked it, he liked it too damn much.

Rochelle was the farthest thing from his mind until Phoebe basically said she would never step on another's woman's vows. And there he was stepping out on his vows to Rochelle.

Thumping the wheel again, the man known as Roman Reigns stared at the building in front of him. Fine, he thought, I'll leave you alone. It's for the better.

He jammed the car in reverse and had to keep himself from speeding out of the parking lot on one of the busiest streets in Pensacola.

The days had evened out so far with the weather. The sun was shiny, there were pretty white fluffy clouds dotted the sky and a cool breeze letting everyone and everything know that it was getting close to the spring time. A time of love and harmony.

Not in Joe's head. He'd just done something he swore to Rochelle he would never do. There was no other for him, just her and their daughter together. Just thinking about how it would effect Malia made Joe grip the steering wheel near painfully. His little girl didn't understand what was going on, he didn't know what was going to happen. Who was he going to tell, Matt? Hell, that would get around faster to his parents than what he needed. Jon was better at keeping his mouth shut, and there was no drama going on with him and Heather, though they were still trying out the dating thing on Jon's behalf.

There had to be someone he could talk to.

Colby?

He was going through some issues with that ex of his and she was the one that broke it off. Maybe he could be of help. Eh, he needed someone that wasn't on the in with Joe's family and that was the only option he had. Vowing to call his former Shield buddy when he got to the house, he eased off the gas pedal.

There was no need or hurry to kill himself on the way home. Rochelle wasn't even home. It was Monday, her strange shift change for the week put her working earlier in the day. Guess that was the bank business or something like that.

"What the hell?" He said seeing her car in the driveway when he got back.

He was going to surprise Rochelle by coming home a day earlier. He wanted to see Malia's face, which was why he had initially gone to see Phoebe in the first place, to tell her that she didn't need to pick up Malia from the bus stop and he thought since Malia was getting better with her math issues then he thought that she could miss one day of tutoring.

The black sedan was parked outside of the garage. Still, maybe she had called in sick. Or it could be acting up again and she asked one of her co-workers to come get her, leaving the car there. Leaving his luggage in the car, Joe got out and headed for the front door.

It was unlocked, not a good sign.

"Chelle?" Joe called out.

Upstairs there was a startled scream. Alarm and fear seeped into Joe's pores as he turned towards the stairs. There was shuffling, bumping of stuff that didn't quite sound right for Rochelle being upstairs. He knew she was a fairly quiet person at home. She didn't even listen to music if she were so inclined to clean. Curiosity and horror urged Joe to go up the soft padded stairs. The carpets muffled his heavy boots and he walked up the stairs.

The further up he went the louder the noise got. Was there someone attacking his wife? That thought made Joe take the last six steps two at a time. He wound around the banister and headed straight for the master bedroom. He burst through the door, nearly knocking it off it's hinges only to find his wife standing alone upstairs in their room.

"Joe, honey, what are you doing here?" She asked as she pushed her hair back from her face, trying to smooth the hair that was sticking up at odd angles.

"I heard noises? Is everything okay?" He asked looking around.

She smiled. "Of course, honey, everything is fine." She said.

The bathroom door was wide open, there was steam coming out of it, indicating that she had just come out of the shower. If she didn't tame her hair after the shower it was a bear to control once it was dry. But her hair was dry and she wore the silk robe he had given her for their anniversary, not her usual bathrobe she wore around.

"What is going on, Rochelle?" Joe asked.

"Nothing, honey." She shook her head.

Something fell in the closet. The walk in closet. He glanced at her one last time before he strolled over to the closet.

"Joe, there is nothing going on. Honey, look at me." She almost begged as he reached for the doorknob.

That's when the closet door opened and in there stood a man he didn't really recognize. At least with cloths on.

* * *

**Well, there you have it. I hope you liked it. A lot of people wanted it and I gave it... Okay that sounded weird. Anyway, I have to go for now but I will be back again later. I have another story I'm preparing for you guys so hold on for a little bit. **


	20. Chapter 20

She had no idea who it was by but the song Love Don't Die was playing on the detachable stereo to Heather's cell phone. Thank goodness that the bar was open from five in the afternoon to late at night otherwise being a full time bar manager would suck.

Bobbing her head to the song that was playing, Phoebe tried forgetting what had happened earlier in the morning. She looked at the clock that was up over the back wall, just a basic circle clock with only the twelve, three, six and nine numbers showing. It was close to one o'clock on a Monday. She would be leaving soon to go tend to Malia and her tutoring.

"Hey, Phoebe, we're here." Candace called when she and Katrina walked into the bar.

She smiled at the two women. Who knew they would be a great addition to the wait staff. Two weeks of them helping with the bar and all the changes that went into the relaunch, they had really turned around from what they had been when she first met them. They were willing to come in before work to help get the bar ready when Phoebe needed to be at Joe's place to help Malia with her math work.

"Hey, great. Remember that new bartender will be here today." She reminded them as she walked out from behind the bar.

There was on major change to the wardrobe. No more bikini tops. It was too demeaning to women like Phoebe, or at least that's how she saw it. They wore similar red tank tops and Daisy Duke shorts. Their hair were pulled back into ponytails, and they didn't wear stripper makeup. There was no drinking on the job, they had ten minute breaks every three hours when they were on shift and no comping drinks for friends and family. New rules were being held up, considering that it was Heather, herself and a more skilled bartender that was starting at Island Boi Bar who were running the bar.

Candace and Katrina were on their best behaviors. "It's the one that will be training us today right?"

"Yeah, the one that passed the test."

There had been a bartender kind of contest, sort of like the one that Phoebe and Heather tried out for before they were hired full time. It seemed pretty good, there were a mixture of men and women and the man, Dylan Barkley was a great mixologist, who had fifteen years in the industry and decided to come to Florida to enjoy the sun and surf and sand and tried hard to find a bar that felt like a family.

Like herself, Dylan was homeless.

"He should be here around three. I'll be…" Phoebe didn't finish the sentence when she heard her phone go off. "Oh hey, it's Rochelle. Give me a minute, okay." She stepped away from the two women. "Hi, Rochelle, what are you doing calling? I was just on my way over to your place."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that." She said, her voice not quite the same as she usually was. "I wanted to tell you that it's not going to work out for Joe and me and that, that we don't need you anymore."

"Rochelle? Did something happen?"

"I screwed up. That's all there is to it. I don't love Joe. You can have him. Robert, I, I need to go."

Robert, who the hell was Robert?

"Rochelle?"

There was only a dial tone.

"Um, Houston, we have a problem." She looked at Katrina and Candace. "Something happened, I need you to take me to your cousin's place. By car. Right now. Heather, man the bar. We have a family emergency!" Phoebe called out.

Jon was sitting at the bar, in his usual place, drinking water. An addition was Colby being there, and so was Nora. Those two had started a conversation, on a friend basis it seemed. Now it was like a permanent fixture to see them there from time to time. And it was great to see that they did a lot of work around the bar to help Heather and Nora out.

"The new guy is coming so stick around and show him the ropes. I'm going to go find out what happened with Rochelle, and pray that I don't find a dead body in their bedroom."

"Do you need me to help with anything?" Nora asked.

"That would be great. Just help Heather out in any way you can." Phoebe responded and then headed out of the bar with the two cousins following her.

Candace and Katrina lived near to where Rochelle and Joe lived with Malia. The ten minutes that it took to get to the neighborhood was a hassle for her. Phoebe nervously twirled the piece of hair around her finger that was on her lap as she watched the nice neighborhood go by. Every lawn was well kept there were people mowing lawns even some had dogs in fenced off yards.

It just seemed so natural, so normal to Phoebe that this was the paradise she wanted. This was what she hoped to get out of life. Yet there were still issues that seemed to underlining everything around her, pulling her back under.

"Are you and Heather thinking about moving into the two bedroom apartment now that the income has been better for everyone?" Candace asked from the front passenger seat.

At least she was trying to get Phoebe out of the deeper and darker parts of her mind.

"Yeah, we're thinking about it. I'm sort of sleeping on her couch at her place anyway. She and Jon ganged up on me about sleeping in the shelter soon after Matt went into the hospital. First she just wanted me to watch her place and then just stay here with me, Phoebe, I feel so much safer." She laughed. "For Jon's sake I did."

"You have no idea how bad I had it for Jon."

"Oh, don't worry, I do." Phoebe said. "I saw the way you would look at him."

"I hated how much he liked you, you know." Candace continued. "I really wanted him but then after a while, when you started showing that there was more to the business than trying to flirt with people, I really wanted to focus on my job. And then you kept telling us how well we were doing, when hardly anyone in my life has ever done that, I wanted to prove that you could trust me with the job."

Phoebe smiled as she glanced at the woman in the front seat. "These last couple weeks have been a roller coaster, hasn't it?"

"Sorry that we were total bitches to you in the beginning." Katrina quickly added as she turned onto the familiar street where the Anoa'i houses were located.

"Let's move forward from that." Phoebe told them.

"Okay, I think it's our fault that everything is screwed up right now with Rochelle." Katrina pulled up to Joe's house.

There was a black car that was sitting in the driveway. Just one car. From the black skid marks Phoebe saw on the pavement she knew someone drove out of here in a very fast manner.

A man that wasn't Joe came walking out of the house with a suitcase in his hands. He was a big tall and very good looking black man. Short hair, in a business suit with black shiny shoes that caught the sun just right. He looked everything that Joe didn't tend to look like. Joe was rough, this man was smooth.

"Robert, what are you doing here?" Katrina asked as she got out of the driver's door of their car.

The man looked at the two sisters and then at Phoebe. "I'm helping Rochelle move out of her husband's house."

"What?" Candace asked.

Phoebe chose her battle and she chose to shut her mouth. Was this what the whole issue was, Joe had seen them together in bed together? Where was Joe?

The man didn't look like he had been beaten up. He looked rather pompous. His shoulders square and set as he used a key chain to beep open the trunk. His dark eyes fell on Phoebe as she stayed next to the car, watching him slightly. He was tall, easily a few inches taller than Joe was. He wasn't as muscled as Joe was.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, his voice deeper than Joe's and it didn't make her feel cozy on the inside.

"I work for Matt at Island Boi Bar. I watch Rochelle's daughter before Rochelle comes home from work." She explained in the simplest form possible. If she looked like a simpleton to him, then he would not consider her a threat. At least in theory.

"I thought Rochelle fired you."

"I have a right to know the safety of Malia."

"No you don't." He dumped the suitcase in the trunk. "You don't need to worry about her, I can take care of Malia better than her father could."

Oh no he did not just say that, she thought bitterly.

Rochelle luckily walked out of the house, crying. Candace and Katrina were looking at her, asking her the questions that Phoebe wanted to ask, but all at once. Rochelle was carrying another suitcase, this one small and pink and had Cinderella on it.

"Rochelle." Phoebe said looking at the woman.

Joe's wife was in the throws of a fit. Her pristine makeup was smeared and running down her slightly pale face. She looked rumpled in appearance as if she was in a haste to get dressed and threw on whatever she could find.

"I thought I told you that I didn't need your services anymore, Phoebe." Rochelle said once she saw her.

"I have every right to be worried about the well being of a child. At the moment I don't give a damn about what's going on with your relationship with Joe. I'm here to make sure that when Malia gets here she's well taken care of."

Rochelle shook her head. "It's no use. I don't love Joe anymore. There will be a custody battle and, and, I know I will have to share custody but now you get your wish. You can have Joe."

"Just like that?" Phoebe snapped her fingers. "Throwing it all away."

"I cheated before. It wasn't hard then."

"But look at what it's doing to you." She tried to touch her but Phoebe knew that would be a bad idea so she let her hand drop to her side. "It's tearing you up."

"I spent a year as Joe's wife. I begged him not to take that stupid job but it was his dream."

Wrestling, Rochelle had to be talking about wrestling. It was the only thing that made sense. She didn't like Joe going off on the road.

"I can see why that would be an issue, Rochelle. I can see that. But think for a second." Phoebe urged the woman.

Rochelle stopped crying for once. "What do you want me to think about?"

"Your daughter? To hell with your marriage. To hell with who ever the hell he is." She pointed to that Robert guy. "Think about your kid, Rochelle. Think about what a six year old is going to think. She's going to think it was her fault."

"It was never Malia's fault for any of this." Robert said.

"I am talking to Rochelle, not you." Phoebe sent the man a cool gaze, making him shuffle on his feet. Then she looked at Rochelle. "If anything happens to that little girl, if anything what so ever were to happen to her, I know where to look. I know who to point the finger at when the shit hits the fan. That little girl is the innocent bystander in this. Don't screw up her life. You go pack your stuff, you move out, fine, but don't let her suffer. Send her to Patricia's place."

"Patricia would be too pissed off at me."

"What's the other option? Her living in a place with a man that isn't her daddy? I would be glad to take her but I live with Heather and a studio with a little girl is not possible. Let me take her to Patricia. She'll be some place safe while you deal with your issues. That is the only option."

Rochelle shoved the suitcase into Phoebe's arms. "Fine, fine whatever. Just, just let me go."

Phoebe watched the man finished putting Rochelle's suitcases in the car and they drove off. Katrina, Candace and Phoebe were left to wait for Malia to get home.

"Who the hell was that?" Phoebe asked as she turned to the other two women.

"Who, our cousin or the man?" Katrina asked.

"Both?"

* * *

His name was Robert, Robert Owens.

That was all Phoebe caught when Joe came in several hours later. Heather was at the bar, Candace and Katrina with Nora were serving the patrons when a very irate Samoan wrestler came through the doors. Jon Good was there, deciding to spend some time with Heather for the brief while when he wasn't on the road. So when Joe came through the door like hell was on his ankles and the wrath of God hunting him, there was no mistaking that something happened.

"She was sleeping with another man. Robert Owens, her supervisor." Joe slammed his hands down on the bar, making all nearby glasses jump from the impact.

Earlier that morning he had kissed her, she had been up in arms against him doing so. And now here he was pissed off to no end. What happened between the morning and then? Oh she knew alright, she was there for most of it when she went to go take care of Malia.

"Dude, if you don't settle it right now, I'm calling the cops on your ass." Jon, in his infinite wisdom, told his friend.

"Where's Malia?" Phoebe asked. She knew the answer to that but she didn't know if Joe had even bothered looking for his own daughter.

Joe didn't answer. His hands were balled into fists, leaning against the bar. He wasn't sitting either, he was standing. Monday night was luckily not all that busy but there were still some cooperate women that were enjoying their fruity drinks and shrimp kabobs off in a corner booth.

With one nod of her head, Phoebe had silently sent orders to Candace, who seem to understand. Head into the office and call a family member.

"Where is your daughter, Joe?" Phoebe asked looking at him this time.

"I don't know. I don't fucking know. When I saw Robert Owens in the closet, I left."

"Without killing someone?" She looked at his hands.

She knew he had a training regimen. He was very much like his cousin Dwayne in that sense. He loved lifting weights but she didn't take him for a boxer. Jon showed a more innate interest in that field and that was enough for her to know Jon lived for punching people. But then again there was that staged Superman Punch that seemed impossible to use in a real life fight.

"Just so you know, Candace and Katrina took me to your place, I was worried about how this would affect Malia and I didn't want her around what was going on. So when she got home we took her to your mother's place." She said hoping to ease some of the anger off of him.

"I should have known."

"Oh for cripes sake, Joe. Think about your daughter for once. It's not just you and Rochelle in this mess, but so is Malia." Not wanting to act like a bitch, she turned her attention to something less threatening. "Where did you go?" Phoebe asked in a softer tone.

His knuckles were bare of any scars or scratches so he hadn't punched anyone or anything recently. It didn't tell her where he had gotten off to after the incident.

"My old high school."

She liked that he wasn't yelling. That he was slacking down a little bit spoke a lot of what was going on in his head. Everyone saw the large man starting to crumble.

"Sit your ass down, Joe. And in this state of mind you're in I'm refusing to give you service, no matter how much you ask of me to. Sit down, I'll get you something to drink and eat."

"I'm not hungry." His voice rumbled as he refused to look at her.

"Bullshit." She said before walking out from behind the bar.

The newly built office next to the bar kitchen was a refuge she went to when she needed a break. She found Candace in there talking on the phone to someone, hopefully Joe's mother.

"Patricia, she's here." Candace held the phone out to Phoebe. "Here, Joe's mom wants to know what's going on."

"Great. Go help Heather at the bar. I want you to give Joe a fried shrimp bowl and a glass of water. Whatever he says, don't give him alcohol." When Candace nodded and then left, Phoebe turned to the phone in her hand. "Hi, ma'am."

"Is Leati Joe there?" Patricia asked.

"Yes, finally. How is Malia doing? Did you explain what is going on?"

"She thinks Mommy and Daddy had a fight and that she will be staying with Sika and me for a while." Patricia sighed and Phoebe could hear the creaking of a leather cushion being shifted. "I can't believe this is happening. I didn't think, I mean sure they had some issues but I didn't think it would end up like this."

First Joe steps out of line a little bit but then this just explodes in a hidden infadelity. Yeah, nothing seemed to be going right that day.

"I'm comping some food, I need to make sure he's okay for a little while. I'm sure Dylan can step up later when Joe has to go home. Or would you prefer that I take him to your place?"

"My place. He needs Malia."

"Okay, I'll make sure that he's over there after I make sure he eats and drinks something."

After hanging up with Patricia, Phoebe headed out of the office, checked the status of the kitchen to see if they needed help with anything but when it was clear nothing was going on on this slow Monday night Phoebe headed out into the bar.

Joe was quiet, staring at his hands. Katrina and Nora were tending the booths tonight, Heather was still at the bar that only had Joe, Jon and Colby. No one was daring to get near Joe at the moment. Phoebe was surprised Colby wasn't running for the highway, she knew Jon could handle himself. The one thing that Phoebe refused to do was touch Joe. Hug, even a hand on his shoulder, it could trigger so many things, which could be dangerous or disturbing. She didn't want to have a repeat of what happened that morning.

"You're going to eat that, Joe." She said coming to stand next to him.

He lifted his head and glared at her. Oh, that was one look that sent her insides to her toes. It froze her in the spot where she stood. But then the anger slipped from his face as he looked away.

"Whatever." He grumbled.

"No, not whatever, Joe. Hell only knows what you've been up to since eight this morning. Nearly twelve hours of hearing nothing from you, no one knows what has been going on with you. I don't know if you've eaten, done something stupid you shouldn't have or what. But it's not healthy. And after you're done eating, I am going to take you to your Mom's place. Malia will be waiting for you there."

Again he didn't seem to listen to her.

Fine, let him. He needed time to mope. It is never a good thing when something like this happened, she knew from her past that it happened a lot to her but he always seemed to control her. If Joe hadn't hurt anyone, anything or himself, then let him.

Phoebe decided that at the moment she was going to look out for the best in Joe and for his daughter.

Who knows how she was going to handle Rochelle.

* * *

** Well, there you have it another chapter done. I hope you liked it and I'll be back again tomorrow to update yet again. So until then, see you around. **


	21. Chapter 21

Joe was quiet for all of the ride to Patricia's place. It was nearing eight o'clock, when she had to be in bed for school the next day. At least that's what Phoebe had to do in order to get Malia off to school.

How was this going to effect Joe's work? Wasn't he in the running for that title business? He had Wrestlemania coming up and there was hardly a chance for him not to go home often.

Pulling into the driveway, Phoebe put the car in park and shut off the engine. For the longest time it felt like neither he or she did anything. It was finally getting dark, but it wasn't dark enough to hide the fact that Joe was still shaking in anger.

"Go to her, Joe." Phoebe said. "Go to Malia, hug her, hold her tight. Press her into your arms and show her that you will never hurt her."

"I can't." He mumbled. "I can't do this on my own."

"Joe, there is a little girl in that house that needs one of her parents. With her mother being out of the picture right now, she needs someone strong there. You're here, for now, and you need to go in there and see your daughter. Two weeks is a long time not to be home."

He thought about that, it seemed. His eyes down, his mouth forming a thin line on his face. Then he opened the passenger side door and got out, slammed it shut and headed for the front door. Phoebe sat in the front seat taking deep breaths, in through her nose and out through her mouth. Trying to calm herself. Between what happeened and the need to fix things that weren't even her problem, she didn't know what to do. Pain? Longing? She was married, she needed to divorce the feeling and make sure that it was gone before she could move on. Move on from what? The life that she wanted the most?

By then probably the majority of the Anoa'i family knew what was going on. Matt probably knew and for what it was worth, Phoebe didn't care. She cared for the safety of that little girl.

A tapping came to the window, making Phoebe look up. She focused on her side window and smiled slightly when seeing that it was Patricia standing there.

"Thank you." Patricia said when Phoebe rolled the window down. "Thank you for bringing him here."

"It wasn't an issue. I'm concerned for him, and for Malia at the moment." She answered truthfully. "I think Joe left some of his bags in the back, I can help you with them if you want."

"Thank you, that would be wonderful. Sika is out at Matt's place right now helping with the books and I don't think he needs to be around at the moment."

"Why?" Phoebe asked when she opened the car door.

Patricia seemed to think about it. "Because he always thought that she was cheating. They had a rough spot a few years ago, something happened and then she came back. I thought Joe had broken it off but she came back asking for a second chance. Sika thought that she was cheating on Joe."

"I'm not taking sides, except for what is best for Malia. That little girl does not need to go through the hell that I did when I was her age. Infidelity was rampant in my family at the time, and my dad didn't try to hide it. For whatever reason my parents are still together. That isn't the life that she needs."

"It's good you're looking out for the best interest of Malia."

Phoebe helped Patricia get the luggage out of the car. She helped carry it into the house. The house was fairly big, sort of. It looked old, like it had seen years of children in there. She could imagine, sort of, seeing Joe as a young boy running through the house kicking up dirt and just being a boy while Patricia pulled her hair out. Even with everything going on, the place with it's soft yellow walls made Phoebe feel like she was standing out under the sun and warmed by it's rays.

"You have a nice home." Phoebe said as she adjusted the backpack on her shoulder.

Patricia lugged in a rolling suitcase that was filled with Joe's wrestling gear. "The home feels so empty without children here. We try to get Malia here as often as we can. Are you going back to the bar?"

"It's being well taken care of right now. I think the constitutes a family emergency. Heather and the new hire Dylan can take care of the bar. Candace, Katrina and Nora won't be doing much work, Monday is amongst the two slowest days of the week."

The older woman was quiet. Phoebe liked how her brown hair hid the signs of gray hair real well. It was naturally wavy and long, down to the middle of her back. She didn't dress like a grandmother, she looked like she tried to stay in fashion as much as she could. And she still had a good figure for her age. She wore jeans and a shirt that made her look a little younger than in her mid fifties.

"How can you keep it all together?" Phoebe asked her.

"Keep what together? My sanity? I lost that years ago when Joe's sister Summer had her second daughter. If there is one thing that's true, this family is huge. We look out for our blood and those that we see as blood. Whether you want to believe it or not, you pretty much family now."

Finding the bag of cloths, Phoebe handed it towards Patricia. "I don't know if I should be the one to go up there and see how Joe is doing. I don't even know which room he's in."

"I don't care if you stay over."

"I think Jon would be grateful to have some time alone with Heather right now." Phoebe added, thinking about her friend and her new found love interest. "Thank you, you didn't have to do that."

"It's hard to believe, having a family like ours isn't it. But you are very much a part of Malia's life and she adores you. Right now I think that's all that matters."

Upstairs Patricia showed Phoebe to where Malia stayed in when she was over. It happened to have been Joe's old bedroom. It now had a sea foam green color to it, with fluffy clouds dotting the ceiling. It still looked like a children's room but it didn't pertain to a little girl's room. It was a neutral color, one that both boys and girls would like. When Phoebe and Patricia got to the room to check on Joe and Malia, there was the cutest thing to see.

Joe was curled up on his side with his large arms circled around Malia's small body. Her little hands held Joe's much bigger hand and she was sleeping peacefully. A book lay on the bed opened as if they both fell asleep reading it. Phoebe watched as Patricia walked in and picked up the book, putting it on the nearby bookshelf before returning to the man and daughter both asleep. She drew up the creme colored comforter around both of them and brushed Joe's hair from his face.

Phoebe felt a knot form in her stomach as she watched the older mother tend to her son and her granddaughter even while they slept. It was a foreign feeling to her. Longing crept it's way up to her heart again. She longed to be treated like that, to be loved because it never really happened in her life.

"I'll show you to the other guest room." Patricia said once she walked back to the door. "I think Myritza left some of her cloths here the last time she was over."

With one last glance at the two sleeping figures in the room, Phoebe closed the door until it only had a crack open and then followed Patricia down the hall to another room.

* * *

Joe woke up in the middle of the night needing to go to the bathroom. He looked down at his little Princess and smiled seeing her oblivious to everything that had been going on in the day prior. She slept peacefully, unlike he did. He dreamed of killing that asshole that was in his closet. He wanted to, he wanted to take his frustrations out on everything and everyone but he knew he could never intentionally hurt his little princess. She was the light in his life at that moment.

Easing out of the bed, Joe stretched and headed for the door.

Once he had taken care of his business, Joe was on his way back to the bedroom to try to get some sleep. Until he passed his older sister's room. There was a small night light on, which was never used. The door was wide open and Joe stopped to see who could be sleeping in there. When he saw that it was Phoebe, her hair falling over the side of the bed, he wondered how could she still be there. After everything that had been happening, how could she still be there.

How? That question plagued him as he leaned against the doorway watching her. She did nothing. She did nothing but care for his daughter. She was only concerned about Malia's safety, her well being when Rochelle hadn't seemed to care. Did Rochelle care? Did she worry about their daughter?

Pushing those darker thoughts out of his head, he focused on the corn colored hair the woman wore like a crown of glory. She didn't know how special she was. She didn't care for how she looked, she didn't care how others saw her. She had that passion in life that only so many women, so very few, seemed to carry. She had the world thrown at her and she lived. And yet here Joe was, he thought he had an okay relationship with the childhood sweetheart he had known all his life almost. But then Phoebe came in and he turned it all around on himself.

She didn't deserve him. Phoebe deserved someone that wouldn't throw away his life for some foolish dream of a perfect relationship.

Phoebe turned over onto her back, sighing. Her small hand came up to her head and she groaned. In the dim light, he saw her eyes open, blink a few times before they stayed open. He wondered what she was thinking? Was it the new place, unfamiliar surroundings. He knew she was staying with Heather at Heather's studio at the moment. Jon had spoken about the two looking into finding a place to live together, a two bedroom apartment now that income was coming in more steadily. Maybe it was the fact that Phoebe was in a place that wasn't a shelter, a place that wasn't going to hurt her that bothered her.

She sat up, hugged one knee to her chest and pressed her chin into her folded arms. Her hair rested on the mattress now. Her small figured huddled into a tight ball. Was she trying to protect herself? Did she have a dream that scared her?

"What are you doing here?" Joe heard himself ask, which seemed to bounce off the walls with a reverb louder than necessary.

She glanced at him. "I'm here to make sure Malia's okay."

"She's fine, sleeping in fact." He said. "Why stay here?"

"To give our friends some well needed alone time. To make sure that you didn't go off and do something stupid." She said, refusing to look at him.

He liked it that she was refusing to look at him. It only meant that she liked him. That was what kept him from killing the man, knowing that someone else that wasn't his wife liked him more than just as a friend. He wanted to do something, to go over there and cover her with his body but at the time it was going to be a stupid move that would end badly for both of them. He knew he wanted to hurt someone, but it was Rochelle that he wanted to hurt, he knew he could never do that to Phoebe. Especially in his parents home.

"Well you don't have to worry about me." Joe said walking into the room.

"Don't you dare come any closer, Joe or I will scream bloody murder and you will look like the bad guy instead of the victim." She said, turning so that she was facing him. "I don't need you in my life, I don't need you to be there. My life was better when you were gone."

"Don't say that shit, Phoebe." He growled.

"Look a what happened with Rochelle, she's been cheating on you. More than once and she's told me that this wouldn't be the first. I don't want to be in the middle of your problems."

"You already are, Phoebe. You're the reason Rochelle cheated this time." He couldn't help his voice raising.

And the next thing he knew there was a pillow being thrown at his head. Joe instantly ducked and the pillow landed out in the hall with a muffled thump.

"Don't blame this on me. I am not the one that actively pursued you in the bar. You did it on your own. I have been nothing but a good person, giving you the utmost respect, never acting out of turn in front of you or your wife." She stood up from the bed.

She wore small white cotton shorts and a tank top. It made her look sweet and innocent when she was fully a woman. Her breasts pressed at the tank top and Joe swallowed.

"I am not the one that wished you to kiss me." She said lividly.

Joe took two long steps forward, but she didn't move. She tensed but she didn't move. He saw how small she was, compared to Rochelle's full figure, Phoebe seemed smaller than what someone her size should be. She shook as his eyes raked over her from head downward, taking in every little detail that he could see. Shadows from the window danced along her bare shoulders and the long hair he was fond of hid the scars that were starting to show up like white lines on her skin. To think that someone had hurt her like that made his blood boil.

"How could you stand that?" He asked, his finger coming to run down the one scar that wasn't hiding under the strap of the tank top.

"How could I stand what, Joe?" She asked, her voice in a whisper almost.

"Being abused like this." He started to take down the tank top strap off her shoulder but she shrugged him off of her.

"I endured it because I didn't think I deserved better. It was ingrained in my head that I wasn't going to amount to much other than someone's punching bag. When I lost," she faultered slightly. "When I lost the baby a few months ago in my last hospital visit, I ran. I had someone help me get money for a bus ticket and got out of dodge fast. I always wanted to go to the beach, a sunny place so why not Florida. I didn't like the glitz and glam of Miami so I threw a dart and found my place here."

While she talked Joe couldn't help but look a her face. She was scared, scared of so many things. She was scared of people but he knew for a fact she adored Malia. She would never do anything to hurt the little girl. Now Joe understood why, it was because she lost a child of her own due to the abuse she had to endure.

"How did Kathy find out that you were married?"

"I don't know. It took Jon following me to the shelter to realize that I was homeless. The guy has a hard time expressing himself, expressing that he didn't want me to be in danger. That was the weekend that I stayed with him at his hotel room. Nothing happened, just so you know. I would never let it get more than friendship even if I was confused about my emotions towards him."

"So you liked Jon."

"Maybe at one point I did, early on." She turned away from him and went to go stand at the window.

The blinds created horizontal lines across her face. Somber as it was, she still looked pretty. She looked like she was thinking.

"I only ever knew pain, Joe. It felt good to have Jon flirt with me He was the first that flirted with me, he was the first that made me feel good about myself. But then Heather showed an interest and I knew I could never be anything other than a friend to Jon."

"But that left you alone." Joe resisted the urge to grasp her chin and kiss her.

"I was never alone, Joe. I don't need love of a man to feel like I belong. It took a while, it took a lot of effort to see that at the bar. The bar is my home, it is my life and the people in it are my family. I don't need a man to make my life meaningful."

He heard her but he heard that tell tale sign that she was trying hard to believe what she said. She was trying to put it in a nice little box and put a bow on it. But it was obvious, there was a chance that she still wanted him.

"Go back to bed, Joe." She said, her voice mimicking the darkness of the room. "Either you or me need to take care of Malia in the morning, get her to school. I'll ask Patricia to drop me off at the bar later in the day."

He didn't fight it, he didn't try to fight it but Joe did fight the urge just to get her in that bed with him on his side holding her close to him. He knew that she needed the space that he wanted to give her. But the fact still remained that there were things that needed to be done about his life. Not hers.

Not yet, he would get the answers he needed when they came to him. At that moment he decided to just return back to the room that he and Malia were staying in together.

* * *

**How'd you guys like this update. I'm almost finished with this story, just a few more updates to come. Just be patient with it and we'll see how this story ends.**


	22. Chapter 22

The next morning greeted Phoebe to a small hand shaking her shoulder. Cracking one eye, she turned her head up slightly to see who had te nerve to do it.

"Malia?" She mumbled, looking at the frizzy haired little girl.

"I can't find Mommy." The little girl held onto one of her many princess dolls. Cinderella, who would think that she loved that fairytale. "Why did she leave yesterday?"

"I don't know, sweetie. Some times adults do the stupidest things." Phoebe yawned as she stretched in bed before looking at her watch on her wrist. "Look at the time, I have to get you to school by eight."

"Daddy's still sleeping." Malia said.

Nodding was the only thing that Phoebe could do. She really didn't want to think about the man that was hurting like no other person she had ever met in her life. Actually she knew of someone who had hurt that bad, herself.

"Phoebe," the little girl asked as Phoebe got out of the bed. "Are you going to leave like Mommy?"

Just the innocence of that question made Phoebe stop mid sit up. She had not expected that question to come out of Malia's mouth. Her dark eyes looked at Phoebe's own light blue ones, her little lip tucked between her teeth. Her eyes were big, doe like as if scared of the thought of loosing someone.

"Honey, I have to stay here to make sure you're okay."

"You promise?"

Phoebe was finally sitting up on the edge of the bed. "I wish I had a daughter like you, Malia. You're so much of a princess. Go find some cloths for school and then we'll go down and find something to eat for breakfast."

"Okay, Phoebe."

There was nothing more important than Malia at that moment. She would bounce back for this kind of betrayal. Watching Malia walk out of the room, Phoebe sighed and went to go find cloths that could possibly fit. Myritza was about her size, she thought as she looked through some of the cloths that were in the closet. Nothing like jeans and a baseball tee to brighten up her day.

She stepped out of the room and went towards where the room Malia and Joe were sleeping in the night before. She looked in and couldn't help but smile.

"Daddy," Malia said, shaking the large man's large arm.

She barely made a dent in the sleeping man. Joe was slightly snoring as he lay on his back, his left arm cradling the pillow that was under his head. He was so tired, from everything, from the betrayal of his wife.

"Malia, he needs his sleep. I'm sure he'll see you later today after school." Phoebe said from the door.

"But who is going to do my hair. Only Mommy and Daddy does my hair."

"Come on, let me try." Phoebe said holding her hand out to the little girl.

"Do you know how to do black people's hair?"

This whole racial difference was really starting to get on her nerves but that was life, it was something that she had to get around. She was white, Malia was half black and half Samoan. That much was true.

"There's no better time than the present to learn. If I need help I'm sure Grandma will help." She said using Patricia's family title to the little girl. She was thankful that Malia wasn't there the day that Kathy went off the rails at the bar in front of the family.

The two of them left Joe asleep, his hair fluffed up and dancing around on the bed. And she thought she had wild hair in the morning.

It took a little while to get used to but she and Malia pushed through the fumbling of thick tresses and a different brush than what Phoebe was used to. She managed to tame Malia's hair into a braided ponytail much like the one she had put her own hair into. For that day, Phoebe had it all planned out. She was going to drop Malia off at school, bring the car back for Joe, probably have him drop her off at the bar around ten that morning and then she would work her butt off to prepare the bar for the night shift.

At least in theory.

"Ready, Malia?" She asked as she grabbed the keys to the car and her wallet for her driver's license.

"Yep." She sighed in response.

Phoebe stopped at the door, keys in hand and looked at the little girl. "Is it the math this time?"

Malia looked at the older woman. "No, just some boy who knows who daddy is. Says Daddy is a fake and stuff like that. Calls me a fake too."

"I can understand bullying." She looked up. "Hi, Patricia, I'm taking Malia to school right now. You have all your books and your homework is in it's folder right?"

"Yes, Phoebe, I got it all." The woman earned an eye roll from the little girl.

"Don't give me that look, Malia. Get in the back seat. I don't want you late for school. I'll be back in a little bit, Patricia. And yes, I have the directions to Malia's school."

She left the woman standing in the house, looking at what just happened. Her and Malia headed out to the car and they went off to school.

At school, when Phoebe got Malia there, she got out of the car with the little girl.

"If Mommy took me to school, she would just drop me off." Malia said.

"Well you're stuck with me today, sweetie. I want to go talk to your teacher for a little bit."

"Because Mommy left?"

Malia was a smart whip. "Yeah, I think so. Come on, you show me the way to your class."

Mrs. Gardner was standing out in front of her class waiting for all her students to get there. The school had fliers up for different activities, there were hand prints hanging off of a poster board next to Malia's classroom, each hand with different names on it.

"Mrs. Gardner, this is Phoebe. But everyone calls her Rapunzel because of her hair." Malia said.

Mrs. Gardner smiled at the woman. "It's nice to finally meet you. Malia really likes to talk about you a lot. Something about a drink specialist?"

"I'm a bartender by trade but I make a lot of non alcoholic drinks too. I work with her Uncle Matt at the Island Boi Bar."

"That place is the best place to go on a Friday night. I went there a few times with a few of my coworkers and it's great. I thought I recognized you."

Phoebe turned her gaze to Malia, who seemed to like the idea of her and her teacher being friends. "Oh, I know that look. If you think Mrs. Gardner is going to give you good grades for being my friend you're wrong." Then the lower lip came out. "Uh huh, Malia- I don't know your middle name- Anoa'i, don't you dare. Go put your things up. I'll be in there in a second. I have to talk business with your teacher."

Heaving a sigh, Malia walked away.

"Not that I'm unhappy to see her brought to school, can I ask why? If she's brought to school her mother doesn't bring her in."

"So Malia's told me that. If she were my kid I'd make darned sure that she gets to class on time. Anyway, that's sort of the reason why I wanted to talk to you. There seems to have been some personal issues going on between Malia's parents."

"Is everything okay?"

"No, not in the latest. And don't think about spreading this to anyone because I know it was you who I told. The father caught the mother in a compromising situation." Phoebe had to say that because some kids came running towards them.

The teacher caught them. "No running in the halls, this is school, not recess." She said before turning her gaze back to Phoebe. "Okay, thanks for the warning."

"As far as I know, she is staying with her grandparents at the moment. I offered to take her to school since they don't live in the school district. I'm taking care of Malia and her safety as respect to her father."

Mrs. Gardner stood straighter. "Uh huh, I see."

"I don't like people implying anything in their heads, Mrs. Gardner. I'm telling you what is going on."

The teacher smiled, pushing her frizzy brown hair back from her face. "I know, and that's nice to see in this day and age. I'm just concern with how this is affecting Malia."

"She's confused right now, she's already asked where her mother is and I can't answer that because I don't know. So until I know what's going on, or what's going to happen, I'm going to continue to make sure that something is done to help that little girl."

Phoebe said her goodbyes to Malia and promised that she was going to be there when she got out of school.

Maybe then she would figure out what was going on with Rochelle. And with Joe.

* * *

Joe was home alone. His father and mother had stuff that needed to be done but he couldn't bring himself to leave the safety of his childhood home. It was where he felt safe.

A grown man that needed to feel safe? That couldn't be possible. He didn't need to feel safe, he needed his wife to pick up her damn phone. A growl escaped Joe's clenched teeth as he dropped the phone. Malia was going to be at school for the entire day but then Phoebe was going to pick her up from school. At least that was what his mother had said when he woke up soon after Phoebe had left with Malia.

"You will not believe what I had seen with Phoebe and Malia." He remembered his mom saying when he had gone down to the kitchen.

"What?" Joe's voice was set to monotone. He wasn't in the mood to banter with his mom.

"Normal."

Joe stared at his mom for her strange use of description. "I'm sorry, what?"

Patricia sighed. "I have seen Rochelle get Malia ready for school. I had seen her get on Malia for being slow, for sleeping in late."

"Mornings were always a battle for Rochelle when it came time for school, Mom. It's normal. Remember us three younger kids growing up? It was a circus around here."

"Rochelle never asked Malia if she had her books together, if she had her homework in her bag."

Come to think about it, Rochelle never did. She always seemed to be tense. When Joe was home it was always him getting her ready for school. Rochelle preferred more hands off when it came to anything dealing with Malia. It didn't mean that Rochelle didn't care for their daughter, she did but she was a lot of hands off some times.

"So? That's just Phoebe, she cares about Malia."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But it was such a darling sight. Malia rolled her eyes at Phoebe and Phoebe told her not to do it. There would be an all out fight between Malia and R…"

"I don't want to hear her name, Mom. It's bad enough that my daughter looks very much like her but I don't want that woman's name being spoken to me right now."

Soon after that blow up she left with Sika for some early morning errands. That was good, it meant that Joe could be left alone to his torrent of thoughts.

A wife that apparently didn't love him. There was a woman acting more like a mother now to his daughter than her real mother ever did. Said woman was starting to really annoy him because he didn't like that she could easily replace his wife. Trading in the old model for a new one.

Joe was sitting in the front room when he heard the slight screech of brakes as a car parked in the driveway He hadn't even bothered getting out of his pajama pants that he wore to bed, bare chested and barely kept, he didn't care. Nothing mattered.

"You're up." Phoebe said as she walked in through the front door.

He looked at her. All thoughts of his wife went with the wind as he watched Phoebe quietly. Her braided ponytail waved behind her as she made her way towards the stairs. She barely made a sound as she walked up the stairs. Soon after she disappeared from sight, he followed.

She was up in the room she had spent the night in. She took her cell phone, a new one that Matt insisted on her getting, and put that and her wallet on the night stand. On the bed she picked up her work cloths she had on the night before and turned to leave with them but stopped. Joe purposefully blocked the way.

"Move, Joe." She said evenly.

"No."

She didn't move either. She stared at him. The cloths in her hands were shaking as she watched him.

Joe walked the few steps that it would take to get to her. She backed up until the back of her legs hit the bed and then stopped all together. He made sure that he didn't touch her but stood close enough to feel her body heat against the bare flesh of his chest and stomach. She was so small, it seemed like to him as he stared down at her. He wanted her hair free so that he could feel it again.

"Two wrongs don't make a right here, Joe."

"I can't help the way I feel about you, Phoebe."

He leaned down and pressed his head to hers. He didn't kiss her, no matter how badly he wanted, he could almost taste her mouth on his again but this way he could touch her. She didn't try to move away.

"You can't help the way you feel, either." He said.

"It doesn't make everything right, Joe." She jerked her head back and even though she couldn't move back or away from him, she did put a hand on his chest. Her touch seemed to burn his chest, between the valley's of his pectorals.

He nearly growled hungrily, trying to push back the need for her. It was a scary feeling, one that he only encountered with his own wife…another growl escaped his mouth as he tried to not think about Rochelle at the moment. Instead he thought about Phoebe's hot little hand on his skin, burning him almost.

"Don't make this any harder, Joe." She tried to push him back.

How true her words were.

There was no better time than the present. He leaned down and kissed her. Phoebe didn't pull away, she couldn't move away but then again she couldn't push him away either. She allowed it, but didn't act on it in either a good way or a bad way. She didn't do a damn thing.

* * *

In the wake of the horror that Joe had to endure, no one could get a hold of Rochelle. Kathy had gone off the grid leaving Katrina and Candace out in the cold.

Colby was hanging out at the bar, watching Phoebe. Around noon he had come on by and found her there at the bar alone. Nora was scheduled to come on in and he wanted to see the girls before he had to leave around six that afternoon for Wrestlmania.

"How's Joe doing?" Colby asked looking at Phoebe.

She glanced at the dark eyed man with the long lashes. "Not good. He had to take care of telling the school that he and his wife are separated, the best word to describe it. That I would be bringing her to school and then picking her up. I agreed to do that for him when he was gone. I don't know what's going to happen with the house, I haven't been back there since yesterday."

"How are you dealing with it?'

Phoebe shrugged. "Like I was betraying someone and I don't know who."

"The husband?"

She laughed through her nose, snorting at the mere thought of Fred caring. "No, he is the last person that I would want to think about. He betrayed me when he caused my miscarriage."

She'd already told Joe, why not others? He seemed to have taken that piece of news hard. Colby's eyes were large, she could see the brown color he possessed, the almost childlike quality that he had. His lips were parted at the news of what she had just told him.

Phoebe opted to change the conversation. "Patricia and Sika already told me to stay with them while I helped with Malia."

"Why won't Patricia and Sika take care of Malia?"

"It's not that they won't. I think because I feel responsible for caring for her in a way. I don't know. I just want to make sure that she is safe."

"There's no place safer than with Joe's family."

He had her there. But why? Patricia and Sika said that she didn't have to drop everything just to be there for Malia. So why was she bothering. She had Matt's bar to worry about. She was there most of the day anyway, she already had so much on her plate and she didn't take days off.

"I think so I can have something besides this." She stretched her arms out and indicated to the bar and everything in it.

He looked like he was going to say something when the door to the bar opened. Nora came in carrying her purse over her shoulder.

"Hey, sorry, there was an issue next door." She said. "I came over to see if you needed help."

"Not right now. Please tell me that Matt has stayed away from the restaurant today?" Phoebe asked as she was checking the taps on the beer dispensers.

"No, he hasn't come in today. Thank God for that. Anyway, where's Joe?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen him this morning."

"So you saw him last night?" Nora asked as she put her purse down on the bar counter.

Phoebe threw her hands up, groaned and grabbed for something nearby to do. She didn't care at that moment, as long as it was something work related.

"That would be a yes." Colby looked at the other woman. "There seems to be issues in paradise with everyone lately. How's life treating you?"

Nora, Phoebe found out in her time at Island Boi Bar, was about eight months older than Colby. She was a Halloween baby and she had a strong liking for scuba diving. Which was the reason why she lived next to the ocean. Nora's short brown bob, newly trimmed and slightly highlighted with lighter brown streaks shifted around her head as she looked at Colby.

"Every thing is fine within my family. How's yours?"

"Mom's been calling me a lot lately and I think my brother's girlfriend is pregnant but then again, he likes having fun when I do all the work that I do."

All the while Phoebe looked at the two of them with a confused expression. Her hands rested on the bar, a towel gripped in one hand and the weirdest thing was that neither man nor woman in front of her paid her any attention.

Shaking her head, she tossed down the towel and walked away.

* * *

** One down and possibly one to go. I hope you enjoyed this update. Stay safe and keep on reading, everyone. I'll be back with another update.**


	23. Chapter 23

Joe hadn't heard from Rochelle since that damned day. She wasn't talking to him, or trying to explain herself. She just wasn't. She hadn't even tried to get a hold of Malia, or asked about the girl.

Dark thoughts crept into Joe's head as he watched his little girl sleep. Was she even his daughter? If Rochelle had cheated before in their long relationship then, could the little girl even be his? There was no denying he loved Malia with all of his heart. But just thinking that she wasn't biologically his daughter was enough to make him doubt everything in life.

Matt's voice came through the house. Joe could hear his mom talking in the kitchen with someone that he had to sit with through out dinner.

"Matt you don't have to do that." He heard Phoebe say as he got closer to the kitchen doorway.

"You've been a blessing to this family for the last couple of days, Phoebe. Heck this last month, you've stepped up more than anyone I've ever known. I want to help you in anyway possible." His brother said.

Curiosity got the better of Joe as he walked into the kitchen. Phoebe was helping Patricia clean up the dishes from the dinner she had come for. In the week since the break up between Joe and Rochelle, she had been around more often, claiming she was there to help with Malia and look out for the little girl. She had taken the night off from working the bar, making sure that everything was all right there before coming over.

"What are you guys talking about?" Joe asked out of curiosity.

"I'm going to help Phoebe finalize her divorce." Matt said, looking over at his brother.

There was something about that look on Matt's face that said something, something that wasn't good. Mad? No, disappointment. The way he shook his head and wouldn't look at Joe after that meant something.

"What?" Joe asked, crossing his large arms.

"I've been looking through the security cameras at the bar." Matt said, leveling a look towards Joe this time. One that was cold and hard, one that he had never given Joe before.

"Yeah so?" Joe shrugged.

"Is it true you forced Phoebe to kiss you just thirty minutes before you found Rochelle's little secret in the closet?"

Wow, Joe thought, that's a nice way of putting it.

His eyes fell on Phoebe, but she was giving her back to him. Refusing to even acknowledge him. Though his parents were well aware of Joe at this point, but they didn't matter in the situation. So Matt did keep the cameras up and running at the bar even after the remodel.

"No, she didn't say anything, Joe. I wished she had but she has too much respect for this family to try to disrupt it any further." Matt said as if reading Joe's look that was turned towards Phoebe. "So, because she is going beyond what any normal worker of mine should, Dad and I are looking into finalizing her divorce."

Joe wished he could get a hold of Rochelle because then he would ask for a divorce. But since she wasn't even returning any of his calls, he'd have to wait until she was ready.

Phoebe put the dish she was washing in the drainer, reached for a towel and dried her hands. "It would mean me getting in contact with Fred. I don't want him finding me down here." She said looking at Matt and Sika, ignoring Joe all together.

He wanted her to look at him, he wanted her to see him but if she didn't think he deserved to talk to her then fine.

Like a child, he stomped out of the kitchen and towards the room that he was sleeping in. Practically dropping like a rock onto the bed, he braced his elbows against his knees and rested his head in his hands.

Who the hell was Fred anyway? Fred Durwin? Was that her husband, the bastard that beat her. Joe heard the second hand stories that Dwayne and Jon even Heather spoke about. Those four were thick as thieves. She refused to talk to Malia about some of the scars that seemed to be there but not really. Phoebe had started to become a part of the Anoa'i family without even trying.

Something had to give. And it wasn't going to be him, that was for damn sure.

Joe looked up when the door slowly opened. Standing there was the object of his attention. Affection was there, he knew she affected him in some way but it was lust, right? Lust for someone that was new, that was nearly perfect but she wasn't perfect at all. She hid things from him. Being homeless at one point, being married and running away from a life that was less than ideal for anyone to endure but still had the strength to get through life, to get a job she enjoyed. Who knew she would want to be a bartender for the majority of her life? Right?

"We need to talk, Joe." She said closing the door behind her.

When the door latched she stayed there, looking at him. The hair he loved some much hung free now. No longer confined in the bun she had kept it in for most of her working day. It was hard to focus on his daughter talking about school to his parents and to Phoebe. Phoebe would cast glances at him, challenging him to do something. She purposefully sat across the table from him, sitting next to Malia. Matt had come over after he had sent his kids off with their mother and came to talk to Phoebe about her marital status.

"What do you want to talk about?" He finally asked.

"I want you to stop." She said.

"Stop what, Phoebe?"

"Stop pining for me, Joe. This isn't right. This is not the time nor place, nor reality that you should be acting out on your ambitions towards me. I don't want to start anything with you, I just want to close that one last door to my old life so I can start over here."

"Why didn't you say anything about being married? We could have helped you out from the beginning."

"I've only known you guys a month or so. Trust is an issue with me, Joe. Unless you prove to me that I can trust you, I have issues with trusting anyone who claims they are my friends."

He could understand that. The life he lived, with the WWE and him needing to go back on the road so soon for the Wrestlemania stuff coming up, Joe knew there were times when trust was valuable to him. Trust was earned, not freely given in his business. He trusted Jon with his life, Colby was the friend he needed when things got bad. He needed his family on his side during all of this. He needed Phoebe to be there to be the one to look out for Malia while he was home. Most of all he just wanted her period.

"I need you as a friend. As the guy that I can turn to when I'm scared. I don't need a lover, I don't need a man to kiss me at the weirdest times, a man that has his own issues. I need you as a friend and that is all."

He nearly laughed bitterly. "A friend? Seems hard to believe you've had a hard time making friends."

She grimaced at that cold remark. "Whatever, that's where I stand right now. No romance, nothing more than a friend. Until things are cleared up between you and me, nothing is going to happen."

Phoebe turned sharply and walked out of the room. Her hair flipped behind her as she walked away. Joe stood up from the bed and closed the door behind her, growling to himself.

There would be another time for him to get to her.

She was right, she had things to do and so did he.

But in Joe's mind, once all the blocks were out of the way, he would get to her. The sooner the better because this was driving him nuts and bat shit crazy.

* * *

**I am going to end this story here for right now. I need to get some other stuff out of the way before I can go at it again. I do plan on having a sequel coming up for this one. **


End file.
